Article Critique 2

Student: Jane Doe

Article: The Effects of a Computer-Based Instructional Management System on Student Communications in a Distance Learning Environment

Author: Scott B. Wegner, Ed.D

Journal: Educational Technology & Society 2(4) 1999 ISSN 1436-4522

URL: http://ifets.ieee.org/periodical/vol_4_99/wegner.html

Introduction The objective of the article was to study the affect of a computer-based instructional management system (IMS) on student communication. The authors were studying if student communication increased when they used a commercially available instructional management software program with integrated communications software versus when they used stand-alone technology.

Overview The recent explosion of the use of the Internet to deliver coursework in higher education has created some new problems in the classroom. Distance learning and electronic classrooms are becoming more popular. One of the biggest problems in related to the delivery of instruction has been maintaining quality communication. The lack of traditional classroom contact has created challenges in student-instructor and student-student communication.

The authors examined several different communication media in this study:

• e-mails sent to instructor
• e-mails sent between students
• access to Internet research sites (number of hits)
• number of telephone calls
• number of faxes sent

The subjects of the study were divided into a control group and an experimental group. The control group consisted of all 14 students enrolled in an advanced curriculum design class in 1997. The experimental group consisted of 22 students enrolled in the same course in 1998. The control group used the Internet and stand-alone communication technology (the traditional, Internet-based approach), whereas the experimental group used the integrated communications software package.

The authors gathered data from each group with respect to each of the categories of communication above. However, the two groups had separate collection methods. For the control group, the author had access to their e-mail accounts so that he could count how many e-mails each had sent. The rest of the data was gathered by survey. For the experimental group, data collection was simplified, as the IMS kept track of most of the communications itself.

Results Two sample t-tests were used to compare the results of the two groups. At the .05 level, significant differences were observed between the groups for the number of e-mails to the instructor and also between students, as well as Internet usage. There were not significant differences between the groups for the traditional communication technologies (telephone and fax).

The results showed that the students using the integrated communication software had more communication that the traditional Internet-based group. The convenience and familiarity of the IMS package had a positive effect on student communications.

Class Readings This article is not cited in any of the class readings, nor does it cite any of the class readings.

Analysis This article is important because it addresses a significant issue of modern instructional technology: communication. Communication is essential to effective instruction. It can help avoid learner isolation, which is common in distance learning. Being able to discuss topics with fellow students aids in the learning process.

The current system for distance education in use at UT-Brownsville is the stand-alone system. Students rely principally on e-mail to communicate with other students and instructors. In some cases, discussion boards are used in which students post assignments and answers to questions. Nonetheless, they still use e-mail to communicate. The systems are not integrated into one package for students. Currently the purchase of a software package which has integrated communications is being considered. This could possibly benefit the UT-Brownsville students and faculty both.

Contributions This article contributes to the knowledge base of distance education. It contains important results concerning how communication between students and instructors can be improved. The study does not provide a new solution to the problem of communication, but it confirms that IMS packages are helpful to some extent.

General Critique In general, the reliability of the variables is high. Both groups were given the same type of instruction and problems to solve. Both were given training on the technology that they used. In most cases, the measures of communication were identical for both groups.

The research design is simple and straightforward. Two groups were used, and only one was administered a treatment. The author did his best to minimize other variables in study. One problem is that this design works best with sample sizes of 20 or greater. Having one of the groups at less than 20 subjects can undermine the internal validity of the study.

Issues (listed by the author) The author mentions that there could be an issue with the way in which e-mail communication data is collected. For the experimental group, the instructor had direct access to students’ e-mail accounts, as they were integrated into the software package. For the control group, he did not have access to their e-mail accounts. The data for the e-mail communications of the control group was obtained through a survey. If students are not able to give accurate data on the survey form, this could severely undermine the results.

Within the two experimental groups, students were grouped by geographic proximity. Geographic proximity may influence how often students use the telephone to communicate. For example, study groups which are far apart may be less inclined to use the telephone due long distance charges. The author does not seem to think that this is a factor in the experiment.

Issues (in my opinion) There is a problem with the external validity of the study. Subjects were not chosen randomly from a population of graduate students, but they were whichever students had enrolled in a certain course at the time. It is possible that some students could have had previous distance education experience/exposure, and could have realized more of a need for increased communication. More importantly, with the experimental group observed one year after the control group, the participants in the experimental group could have had more experience and comfort with electronic instructional technology than the group of one year prior. This could potentially invalidate the results.

Impact It is unclear exactly how much impact this article has had on the field of on-line learning. A citation analysis did not indicate that this work had been cited.

Conclusion Communication between students and between students and instructors is an important factor in the learning process. Even though this study may not have perfect external validity, it clearly underscores the need for technological solutions to communication issues. By integrating communications with other instructional media, distance education will improve and will be better received by students.