| This grounded study examined students' experience with two types of interaction in asynchronous online courses: ones in which students engaged in seminar-style discussions (Issue-based) and ones in which students worked together on a common project (Project-Building). Ten students, who had participated in both types of interactions, were interviewed. Qualitative analysis uncovered that in both discussions, themes of student diversity, the asynchronicity of the environment and a sense of community affected the students' experience.;In Project-Building discussions both diversity and asynchronicity proved to be a negative influence on students' experience as it caused stress and frustration due to difficulties in negotiating meaning and consensus. This frustration was often amplified by a need to complete the project by a particular deadline. As a result, many groups in the Project-Building condition abandoned collaborative work in favour of a "divide-and-conquer" cooperative work approach.;From these findings, an extension and elaboration of Murphy's (2004) six-stage model of collaboration is developed. It is further proposed that while the term, "collaboration" is often used to describe the kinds of activities that take place online, most group activities only reach stage 2 or 3 of Murphy's scale. Deeper levels of collaboration can be fostered through the design of group activity structures that minimize, or avoid, the problematic conditions identified in this research. Two such activity structures are outlined.;In Issue-Based discussions, students' diversity was advantageous as it exposed them to a variety of experiences and perspectives. The asynchronous nature of the environment allowed the students to focus on, and pursue, ideas of personal interest, provided flexibility and facilitated reflection and deeper learning. However, their interactions were not truly collaborative, since there was little impetus for students to develop shared understandings or pursue a common line of inquiry. |
