“Am I making sense here?”: What Blogging Reveals about Undergraduate Student Understanding
Trena M. Paulus
University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Rebecca L. Payne
The University of Alabama
Lisa Jahns
Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, USDA-ARS
Abstract
Educational researchers are interested in whether what is learned in the classroom is transferred to new situations. This qualitative case study explores how computer-mediated communication, specifically web logs (blogs), can extend learning and facilitate transfer of learned concepts. Participants blogged for seven weeks about concepts related to nutrition. Data included blog posts and comments and interviews. These data were analyzed inductively for emergent themes addressing our research questions. Four themes were identified: (a) concepts contextualized to participants' daily lives; (b) barriers to applying learned concepts; (c) sources of "expert" knowledge; and (d) unanswered questions revealing gaps in understanding. Implications for using blogs to support actor-oriented learning environments are presented, along with directions for further research.
About the Author(s)...
Trena Paulus is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee where she teaches courses in research methods, collaborative learning, and online learning. She holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University and a M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Ohio University. Her research interests include meaning-making in computer-mediated communication environments and discourse analysis methods. She may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Rebecca L. Payne is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Alabama. Dr. Payne’s research explores the relationship between literacy, identity, and technology. Rebecca can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Lisa Jahns is a Research Nutritionist at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center. She is a registered dietitian and holds a Ph.D. in Nutritional Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include Dietary Guidelines adherence, dietary assessment methodology, stress eating, and biological,psychosocial, and environmental determinants of dietary behavior, overweight and chronic disease risk factors in children and adults. She may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
