A descriptive pilot study of electronic dialogue in higher education based on dialectical constructivism perspectives

The demand for online learning in higher education institutions is increasing dramatically with little concomitant research documenting either process or outcomes. This widening gap between practice and research should be a concern for those involved with instructional technology and its utilization in learning environments. The field needs to move from unsystematic documentation and single-case summaries to more rigorous research that is theory-driven.; The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of electronic dialogue among undergraduate students and with their instructor within a dialectical constructivism framework in a virtual class. Another purpose is to examine the relationship between students' overall perceptions and their performances in the Art and Human Values online class including the relationship among students' demographic variables, the nature of electronic dialogue, and students' performances in the virtual class. Finally, the study seeks to test dialogic theory in order to determine its applicability to asynchronous communication.; The study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. Based on the research questions and the phenomena being studied, both qualitative and quantitative case study methodologies were used. Data collection techniques for studying 25 participants included posting messages, emails, and an electronic survey questionnaire.; Data were analyzed using 14 major categories based on learner-learner and learner-instructor interactions. Eight of these categories indicated the highest interactions among students and with their instructor. These categories are agreement with extension, reporting feedback, asking questions, responding to questions, reporting opinions, expressing feelings and using emoticon, reporting elaboration, and acknowledgment. A non-significant Pearson correlation was found between students' overall various dimensions of perceptions and their performance. However, students' overall satisfaction with electronic dialogue and feedback yielded a significant correlation with students' overall motivation and with students' overall perception of learning. Students' overall motivation correlated significantly with students' overall perception of learning. Finally, male students were more experienced with and knowledgeable about the computer technology than female students.; Findings of the current study are consistent with research literature and suggest that we can use the dialogic theory to understand the asynchronous communications among students and the instructor in an online environment. This study also provides some recommendations about online instruction for future research.