Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia

The use of online discussion forum is slowly penetrating into classroom teaching and learning as studies have proven that it contributes to a positive learning environment, provided that learners and educators know how to use it effectively. In order to know how to use the online discussion forum...

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Main Authors: Azura Omar, Zaini Amir, Maslawati Mohamad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15888/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15888/1/23724-91334-1-PB.pdf
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author Azura Omar,
Zaini Amir,
Maslawati Mohamad,
author_facet Azura Omar,
Zaini Amir,
Maslawati Mohamad,
author_sort Azura Omar,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The use of online discussion forum is slowly penetrating into classroom teaching and learning as studies have proven that it contributes to a positive learning environment, provided that learners and educators know how to use it effectively. In order to know how to use the online discussion forum effectively, this study was conducted. The research objective was to identify the online discussion strategies employed by the participants. This case study involved fifteen 2nd semester Engineering Technology Malaysian undergraduates enrolled in “Professional English 1” course. Data were gathered from a focus group interview, individual interview and participants’ reflective notes. Five participants volunteered to be interviewed individually and the remainder express their interest to be interviewed in a focus group interview. The participants were interviewed immediately after their online discussion activities. The participants were also asked to reflect to their opinions on their online discussion experience after each online discussion activities. These findings indicate that participants employed three online discussion strategies to facilitate their project work, namely: 1) devising and coordinating ideas before posting 2) interpreting others’ responses before posting their ideas online, and 3) ratifying their own statements before posting. These strategies were employed by the participants to complete a proposal for a Community Service Responsibility (CSR) project. It is hoped that these findings could provide insights and create awareness among the lecturers on the strategies employed by the participants so that more effective and meaningful online discussions could be carried out.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:158882020-12-01T03:35:24Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15888/ Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia Azura Omar, Zaini Amir, Maslawati Mohamad, The use of online discussion forum is slowly penetrating into classroom teaching and learning as studies have proven that it contributes to a positive learning environment, provided that learners and educators know how to use it effectively. In order to know how to use the online discussion forum effectively, this study was conducted. The research objective was to identify the online discussion strategies employed by the participants. This case study involved fifteen 2nd semester Engineering Technology Malaysian undergraduates enrolled in “Professional English 1” course. Data were gathered from a focus group interview, individual interview and participants’ reflective notes. Five participants volunteered to be interviewed individually and the remainder express their interest to be interviewed in a focus group interview. The participants were interviewed immediately after their online discussion activities. The participants were also asked to reflect to their opinions on their online discussion experience after each online discussion activities. These findings indicate that participants employed three online discussion strategies to facilitate their project work, namely: 1) devising and coordinating ideas before posting 2) interpreting others’ responses before posting their ideas online, and 3) ratifying their own statements before posting. These strategies were employed by the participants to complete a proposal for a Community Service Responsibility (CSR) project. It is hoped that these findings could provide insights and create awareness among the lecturers on the strategies employed by the participants so that more effective and meaningful online discussions could be carried out. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15888/1/23724-91334-1-PB.pdf Azura Omar, and Zaini Amir, and Maslawati Mohamad, (2018) Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 24 (4). pp. 102-114. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1152
spellingShingle Azura Omar,
Zaini Amir,
Maslawati Mohamad,
Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia
title Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia
title_full Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia
title_fullStr Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia
title_short Facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a Technical University in Malaysia
title_sort facilitating online learning: students’ online discussion strategies for a project work at a technical university in malaysia
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15888/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15888/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/15888/1/23724-91334-1-PB.pdf