from The Networked Word: Toward a More Complete Description of the Nature and Educational Utility of Computer-mediated Bulletin Board Discussions, by Peter Theodore, 2001


CHAPTER 6 Conclusions and Recommendations


The conclusions that can be drawn from the present study, in which one of the research procedures, a phenomenological investigation, is deliberately personal in nature, and the other procedure is a qualitative analysis, are of a different sort than those that would be yielded by a more impersonal, quantitative study. This is not to imply that the conclusions from the present study are any less valuable or useful than those from other types of studies, but rather that it is important to understand the nature of the conclusions in order to accurately assess whatever value and usefulness they possess.

The conclusions from the present study are not statements such as, "There is a significant difference in the academic achievement of university students who participate in computer-mediated bulletin board discussions compared to those who do not." Instead, evidence is presented which indicates, for example, that certain practices seem to enhance teaching and learning in a university setting, with the implication that these practices should be tried by others and further investigated by both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

The three research questions that guided the present study were:
  1. What are the distinctive features of a computer-mediated bulletin board discussion?
  2. What contribution can a computer-mediated bulletin board discussion make to the enhancement of teaching and learning?
  3. What are some specific practices that seem to lead to more effective use of computer-mediated bulletin board discussions in an educational setting?
I will discuss the conclusions reached in response to each of these questions in turn, each time examining first the evidence from the phenomenological description of chapter 4 and then the evidence from the qualitative analysis of chapter 5, following this with a summation of the evidence from both chapters combined.

Distinctive Features of the Bulletin Board Discussion Revealed by the Phenomenological Description

One distinctive feature of the computer-mediated bulletin board discussion is that the conversation it makes possible remains in place, available for participants to read and contribute to twenty-four hours a day. In the phenomenological description that comprises the fourth chapter of this study, I note that I accessed the bulletin board at eleven o'clock on a Wednesday evening. The first student message that I read at that time was posted just before noon on the previous day, Tuesday, in response to a question that I had posted at about 10:00 p.m. the previous Saturday.

In addition to holding the conversation in place, the bulletin board organizes messages by topic, the set of messages on each topic being called a thread, and then chronologically. I note in chapter 4 that I sometimes choose to read all the messages in a thread together and other times read the messages in the order they were posted. Making the ongoing conversation available to participants in this sort of coherent structure is another distinctive feature of the bulletin board.

A related feature is the element of choice mentioned above. Participants can choose how to follow a conversation. Choices include chronological order, reverse chronological order, and by topic. Furthermore, one can choose when and how to contribute to the conversation. Having read a post to which one wants to respond, one can either respond immediately or log off, take some time to reflect, and return to the bulletin board to respond at another time. One can even write out one's thoughts in advance and then post them to the discussion. A person also has choices with regard to how one's contribution will appear. One can decide that one's contribution belongs in an existing thread, for example, or one can choose to begin a new thread.

Another feature of the bulletin board discussion is that extended conversations on one topic will take place. This seems to be facilitated by the first two features discussed above, holding the conversation in place and presenting it in a coherent structure. I mentioned one example of such an extended conversation in chapter 4, the discussion about behaviorism. In this case, there were seventeen student posts on one topic over a period of two days. Since the posts remain on the bulletin board indefinitely, such conversations can continue for weeks or months if students remain interested in the topic.

Although the bulletin board appears at first glance to be flat and impersonal, words on a screen, student posts are often both personal and emotional. One example is the student post that I quoted in chapter 4 that begins, "VB- Okay, let's be realistic… Machiavellians?" In this case, the student opens by addressing another student by name, which makes the message personal. Emotion is demonstrated by the use of upper-case letters and exclamation points, as in, "THAT'S BEHAVIORISM!!!!"

Having a group of people's thoughts and feelings gathered in one place seems to create a sense of community, a sense of being somehow connected with all those who have posted. My experience of these feelings of community and personal connection are evident in my phenomenological description in chapter 4, where I say, "Reading the messages on the bulletin board gives me a sense of being among my students, of their being present for me," and " . . . the memories that constitute my knowledge of this student-face, voice, where the student usually sits in the classroom-become present in my consciousness."

In addition to fostering a sense of connection among the people participating in the discussion, the computer-mediated bulletin board appears to bring about a feeling of synthesis between person and machine. I note in chapter 4 that "[m]y fingers are a bit livelier on the computer mouse as I click to the next student message" and that "[t]his ongoing electronic conversation has become part of the fabric of my life." The medium by which communication takes place appears to acquire some of the emotional charge that adheres to the communication itself.

Distinctive Features of the Bulletin Board Discussion Revealed by the Qualitative Analysis of the Transcripts

The qualitative analysis of the transcripts revealed five distinctive features of the computer-mediated bulletin board discussions: references to personal experience, interaction, logical argument, multiple perspectives, and the expression of opinion. I will examine each of these separately, then discuss what the existence of all of them together, combined with what was revealed by the phenomenological description, seems to imply about the nature of the computer-mediated bulletin board discussion.

References to personal experience appear to have depended, at least in part, upon course content. In Human Growth and Development, a class in which many of the topics under discussion lent themselves to references to personal experience, 54 percent of the student posts included such references. In comparison, 25 percent of the student posts in the Instructional Technology class referred to personal experience. This indicates that the nature of the bulletin board discussion can be influenced by its context.

Course content alone, however, does not seem sufficient to account for the prevalence of references to personal experience on the bulletin board. Even in Instructional Technology, fully one fourth of student posts made such references. The following excerpt, from one of the posts quoted in chapter 5, is from the Instructional Technology class.
I have a six year old sister and my parents both work and at very different times. They have computer programs for her and at times they do just sit her in front while they do housework. I can see how special it is when I sit down with her and we read together, or when I see my mom or dad read to her. She becomes so alive and excited. When she comes from behind the computer screen she seems lonely.
Despite the relatively less personal content of Instructional Technology, the bulletin board still seems to have elicited quite personal references from students. Indeed, given the deeply personal nature of some of the experiences related on the bulletin board, as evidenced by phrases such as "[m]y dad was never really around when I was growing up" and "I had nightmares for weeks afterwards because I never got to say goodbye," and that 44 percent of total student posts made reference to personal experience, it seems reasonable to conclude that the bulletin board discussion itself encourages this sort of sharing.

Unlike references to personal experience, the element of interaction in student posts does not seem to have been dependent upon course content. Approximately half the posts in each class, 46 percent in Instructional Technology and 52 percent in Human Growth and Development, contained an element of interaction. Phrases such as "Hey everyone!," "What do you think?," and "See you guys in class tomorrow." indicate that students felt themselves to be interacting with their classmates when they posted a message to the bulletin board.

In addition to being a medium for personal interaction, the bulletin board discussion was also a forum for logical argument about various topics. About one third of total student posts, 28 percent in Instructional Technology and 36 percent in Human Growth and Development for an average of 33 percent, involved a student expressing a point of view and supporting it logically. The prevalence of this sort of logical argument on the bulletin board is evidence that the bulletin board exhibits in combination some of the qualities of both oral and written communication. The tendency to argue for a particular point of view is a characteristic of oral conversation, and the development of such an argument in a linear, logical manner is a characteristic of writing.

The next distinctive feature of the bulletin board discussion that was revealed in the qualitative analysis of the transcripts was the presentation of multiple perspectives on various topics that were being discussed. Multiple perspectives were presented in just under half, 47 percent, of the total student posts. As was the case with interaction and logical argument, the difference between the two classes, 41 percent in Instructional Technology compared with 50 percent in Human Growth and Development, did not seem to indicate that the content of the courses was an important factor here.

Two features of the bulletin board that were discussed above, that the conversation remains in place and that it is organized by topic, seem likely to have facilitated the presentation of multiple perspectives on topics. Students could easily read what had already been posted on a given topic, viewing whatever perspectives were presented. It seems likely that this reading would help a student clarify his or her own point of view, and encourage the student to add it to the ones already posted.

The final feature of the bulletin board discussion revealed by the transcript analysis was the expression of opinion. Students took a definite stand with regard to an issue in 61 percent of the total posts, 55 percent in Instructional Technology and 63 percent in Human Growth and Development. The expression of opinion was the most common characteristic found in student posts, occurring in over half the posts in both classes. Students seemed to situate themselves as distinct individuals within the bulletin board discussion, making clear where they stood on the topics under discussion. It seems likely that being alone in front of the computer is less intimidating than being face to face with another person, and that this greater degree of comfort facilitated the expression of personal opinion. Also, the fact that one has the opportunity to read and understand another's point of view may help one to clarify one's own position.

A Summation of the Distinctive Features of the Bulletin Board Discussion

The bulletin board discussion appears to combine some of the key characteristics of oral and written communication. Participants get personal in the context of the bulletin board discussion in the same way that they would get personal in a face-to-face conversation. They show emotion, interact with each other, and share personal stories. At the same time, the fact that the bulletin board conversation remains and place to be read imbues it with some of the qualities of writing. Participants are able to read and contribute at any time, regardless of when others have been involved, and contributions often have the coherent, logical development of a written work.

An electronic bulletin board discussion also seems to create a sense of community among its participants. Some connection to the person who posted a message appears to adhere to the message itself; thus, when one views the assembled messages on the bulletin board, one tends to feel oneself to be in the company of those who wrote these messages.

Contributions of the Bulletin Board Discussion to the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning Revealed by the Phenomenological Description

The electronic bulletin board discussion enables an instructor to read and respond to student participation outside normal class hours. In the phenomenological description, I noted that I began to look at the bulletin board "at eleven o'clock on a Wednesday evening" for classes that would meet the following day. Being able to access the bulletin board discussion at any time allows an instructor to do such things as exchange ideas with students or clarify misunderstandings of the course material between one class meeting and the next. This is the sort of activity that can take place during an instructor's office hours, but in the case of the bulletin board the instructor and the student do not have to meet at the same time and place.

In addition to providing the opportunity for the instructor to interact with individual students, the bulletin board enables the instructor to assess students' understanding of course content on an ongoing basis and to utilize this assessment when planning for class. I noted in chapter 4 that I wanted "to see what has taken place in the bulletin board discussions before I complete[d] my planning for [the next day's] class sessions." By making use of the insights into students' thinking provided by the bulletin board discussion, class lecture and discussion can be tailored to a particular group of students.

One example of how I was able to adapt my class presentation in the light of what I read in the bulletin board discussion involved the topic of behaviorism. In chapter 4, I mentioned that "I had become concerned about what I perceived as a misunderstanding, or an insufficient understanding, of what I had presented in class regarding behaviorism." I go on to discuss how I let the conversation continue on the bulletin board for a while, and then that I did "bring the matter up in class on February 3, 2000," and made the clarifications I believed were necessary.

I also found that the contact with students provided by the bulletin board discussion energized me and increased my enthusiasm about teaching. I noted in chapter 4 that I was "eager to get to the bulletin board discussions and see whether and how much my students had posted." It seems likely that contact with students is uplifting for those who enjoy teaching, and the bulletin board provides additional contact. While not the same as face-to-face contact, contact by means of the bulletin board discussion does have some of the same qualities. I observed in chapter 4 that "[r]eading the messages on the bulletin board gives me a sense of being among my students, of their being present for me." At the same time, one always has the option to end the contact when one needs time to oneself.

Furthermore, as students participated on the bulletin board, I could see, in the content of what they posted, evidence of the success of my teaching efforts in the classroom. I noted after one of the student posts that I quoted in chapter 4 that what the student had said was "just the kind of thinking I want to encourage in students," and after another that I was "gratified that this point seems to be getting across to my students." Seeing the fruits of one's teaching efforts in student posts to the bulletin board can be uplifting for an instructor, as it is when a student does well on a test or writes a good paper.

Finally, the very thinking that students do as they reflect on issues and post their thoughts to the bulletin board seems likely to enhance student learning, in addition to any benefits it provides by way of communication to the instructor. While it is difficult, if not impossible, to know just what sort of thinking a person does, the following excerpt from chapter 4 gives my impressions as an instructor of what seemed to be happening for a student because of the bulletin board.
The bulletin board discussion that has arisen in response to this assigned reading has provided the opportunity for this student to reflect on a new way of looking at the teaching/learning situation and to articulate some thoughts about how this new idea might be put into practice. Furthermore, the student has thought about a meaningful way to incorporate technology into the classroom.
Contributions of the Bulletin Board Discussion to the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning Revealed by the Qualitative Analysis of the Transcripts

As discussed above, the qualitative analysis of the transcripts revealed five features of the computer-mediated bulletin board discussions: references to personal experience, interaction, logical argument, multiple perspectives, and the expression of opinion. I will discuss these features individually in terms of what each one appears to contribute to the enhancement of teaching and learning.

To the extent that students are able to connect course content with their own personal experiences, it seems that they are likely to see the course content as more relevant to their lives, be able to remember it more effectively, and be better able to apply what they have learned to their professional practice in the future. Knowledge embedded in a meaningful context tends to be more successfully remembered and more readily applied to new situations than knowledge which is relatively isolated and unconnected. The references to personal experience also enhance teaching by enabling the instructor to get to know the students better.

Interaction on the bulletin board is related to an essential component of a university education. One of the principal differences between education at a university and self-education is interaction with others, and particularly interaction related to the material one is learning. The bulletin board enhances the learning experience at the university by providing more opportunities for such interaction.

It is also important in a university education to learn to state one's point of view in a coherent, logical manner. Thus, the bulletin board discussion enhances learning by facilitating the use of logical argument on the part of students. It also seems likely that students' command of the subject matter will increase as they think through issues and write about them. As students post their arguments to the bulletin board, it also enhances teaching, because the instructor gets to know the students better and gets information about how students are thinking about various topics. As was discussed earlier, this information allows the instructor to be able to tailor the class lectures and discussions to the students currently enrolled in the course.

The presentation of multiple perspectives on the bulletin board enhances learning by helping students see the various sides of issues. Indeed, getting students to realize that there are many sides to an issue is often an important learning goal at a university. A thread on the bulletin board discussion with a record of many perspectives on a topic is a valuable supplement to the textbook and in-class discussion.

Finally, as students express their opinions on various course topics they become personally engaged with the material, which seems likely to help them learn. The expression of opinions also helps the instructor to get to know the students in the class better, which, as has been discussed above, enhances the quality of instruction in the class.

A Summation of the Contributions of the Bulletin Board Discussion to the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning

The electronic bulletin board discussion seems to contribute to the enhancement of teaching and learning in at least five ways: by increasing contact between students and the instructor, by increasing contact among students, by facilitating the personal involvement of students with the course content, by enriching the content itself for students, and by aiding in the development of student skills in thinking and expression.

The increased contact between students and the instructor enhances the learning experience for individual students by providing the equivalent of additional office hours, additional time when the instructor can answer student questions and otherwise respond to student needs. Furthermore, because of the information acquired through this increased contact, the instructor is able to assess student understanding on an ongoing basis and tailor the class to the needs of a particular group of students. Increased contact also enhances teaching to the extent that the instructor is energized by feeling connected to students and by seeing evidence of successful teaching.

Increasing the amount of contact that students have with each other is another way that the bulletin board enhances learning. Students are able to interact more with their peers about topics related to coursework, and are thus more likely to become the sort of learning community that is at the core of the university experience.

Student learning is also enhanced by the personal involvement of students with the course content. By relating course topics to personal experience and by taking a stand to express one's own opinion, students form connections with the subject matter, making them more likely to remember it and to be able to apply it as professionals in the future.

Furthermore, the delivery of the course content itself is augmented and enriched by the bulletin board discussion. By reading the opinions and arguments that their peers post to the bulletin board about various topics covered in class, students receive content that supplements what they have access to from the textbook and class time. Also, the presentation of multiple perspectives on various topics related to the class provides a richer, more complete picture of content to students than they would be likely to receive otherwise.

Meanwhile, as students are thinking about course content in order to present their views on the bulletin board, their own thinking skills are developed. Particularly in the cases where students develop logical arguments to support their points of view, the bulletin board becomes an important tool to enhance and advance learning. Students are likely to learn more when they are not merely passive recipients of information, but rather are actively engaged with the material and involved in expressing their own thoughts about the subject matter.

Specific Practices That Seem to Lead to More Effective Use of Bulletin Board Discussions Revealed by the Phenomenological Description

Based on both the quantity and quality of student participation in the bulletin board discussions for both classes, it seems to me that the bulletin board discussions were used quite effectively during the semester that was the focus of the present study. Though I did not make any formal comparisons as a part of this study, I do know from conversations with colleagues that computer-mediated bulletin board discussions are not automatically as successful as these two were. Thus, it would appear to be useful to attempt to identify what I may have done as an instructor to contribute to the effectiveness of the bulletin board discussions in my two classes.

The first thing I notice when examining the phenomenological description that comprises chapter 4 is the prior experience I had with computer-mediated bulletin board discussions. I note that "I was an active participant in discussions on various BBS's," that I "became a facilitator for a few discussions," and that once I got involved with the Internet "I found the bulletin board discussions the most interesting of all [the things available]." It seems likely that the more experience one has with computer-mediated bulletin board discussions, and the more genuine interest one has in them, the more successful one will be in making them an extension of the university classroom.

In addition to being enthusiastic about electronic bulletin board discussions, I explicitly communicated my enthusiasm to my students, sharing my excitement and describing to them some of the ways I thought these discussions could enrich their own education and the education of the students they would be teaching in the future. This too, I believe, made students more likely to ascribe importance to the bulletin board discussions and to participate in them in ways that made the discussions valuable for them, their classmates, and their instructor.

Students also knew that I was paying attention to what they posted because I would respond to what they said, either on the bulletin board or in class. One example of my preparing this sort of response occurs in chapter 4, when I say, "Based on what I have just read, I note three things I want to say to the class when we meet tomorrow." Knowing that the instructor is paying attention to what they post seems likely to affect both the quantity and the quality of student participation. Further, the knowledge that I was paying attention to what students said was augmented by the fact that I made participation in the bulletin board discussions part of a student's grade for the class, and that I gave more or less weight to posts based on what I judged to be their quality. The following passage from chapter 4 describes my evaluation process.
After reading the message, I make a judgment on a scale of 0-3 and make a notation in my grade book. The evaluation is not a precise science by any means, but it does enable me to take what I judge as the quality of a student post into account, so that one outstanding, very thoughtful post might count the same as a couple of relatively perfunctory ones. Participation in the bulletin board discussion is part of a student's grade, and if I do not engage in some sort of assessment of quality, then I am reduced to merely counting the number of times a student contributes, regardless of what he or she has to say.
When students know that their contributions to the bulletin board are being read and assessed, and that what they say will affect their grade, it seems likely that they will be more thoughtful about what they post and try to ensure that it is relevant to the class.

Students also seem more likely to participate on the bulletin board if the instructor posts questions for them to answer. As I said in chapter 4, "as I used the bulletin board in my teaching and asked students for feedback about its use, I received a clear message from students that more input from me on the bulletin board to stimulate discussion would be helpful." This was borne out by the frequency and quality of student responses to questions that I did post on the bulletin board. Some examples of these student responses were quoted and discussed in chapter 4.

Finally, the choice of bulletin board software is an important consideration. In chapter 4, I state that "I found WebCT to be both powerful and easy to use." There are a number of tools that can be used to provide computer-mediated bulletin board discussions, and they vary considerably with regard to the features they offer and their ease of use. Good software will contribute to more effective use of computer-mediated bulletin board discussions.

Specific Practices That Seem to Lead to More Effective Use of Bulletin Board Discussions Revealed by the Qualitative Analysis of the Transcripts

In addition to those discussed above, there were just two specific practices revealed by the qualitative analysis of the transcripts that seemed to lead to more effective use of the bulletin board discussion. One of these was my use of in-class activities to stimulate participation on the bulletin board. I would often engage the class in an activity that provoked a lot of discussion, allow a small amount of time for students to talk in class, and then move on to something else with the suggestion that further discussion continue on the bulletin board. The following student post, quoted in chapter 5, is an example of a response to my use of in-class activities to stimulate bulletin board participation.
I was wondering if anybody had the same results on the nametag activity as I did. I basically had the same responses for three of the four questions on both the nametags. The only question that I had different was "Where I would like to go?" The other activity was pretty interesting too. I thought Tuesday's class was one of the best classes of the semester. See you guys in class tomorrow.
The second practice I utilized to stimulate participation was the use of assigned readings that were selected in part because I thought they were likely to provoke responses from students. A quite successful example of this practice was the assignment of the article about young women selling their eggs to infertile couples, which I discussed in chapter 5. Among the student responses this article provoked was the lengthy and heartfelt argument I quoted in that chapter which concluded with the statement, "I know it was rather long, but I had to say what I felt about this or I was going to explode."

A Summation of Specific Practices That Seem to Lead to More Effective Use of Bulletin Board Discussions

Computer-mediated bulletin board discussions are likely to be more effective to the extent that the instructor has experience with them, is enthusiastic about their potential, and communicates this enthusiasm to students. In addition, it will help if students know that the instructor is paying attention to their contributions to the bulletin board discussion. It will help even more if the instructor responds to student contributions, both on the bulletin board and in class, and if these contributions are assessed as part of the students' grade for the course.

It is also helpful if the instructor posts questions on the bulletin board to which students can respond, as well as trying to stimulate bulletin board discussion with in-class activities and assigned readings. Finally, care should be taken to select bulletin board software that has the features and ease of use that will help make the bulletin board more successful.

Suggestions for Further Research,

Two possibilities for further research into the nature and educational utility of computer-mediated bulletin board discussions seem likely to be fruitful, one that would aim more at a more thorough understanding of these discussions and the other that would contribute to more effective use of them in education. The first suggestion is a qualitative interview study and the second is an action research project. In the present study, I gathered data from a phenomenological description of an instructor's experience with the use of bulletin board discussions and from a qualitative analysis of the transcripts of those discussions. Another valuable source of data would be the thoughts and feelings of the students who participated in these discussions. A qualitative interview study seems a good way to investigate these thoughts and feelings. At the same time that work proceeds to understand bulletin board discussions more completely, it is important to make the most effective possible use of them in education. Action research by instructors using these discussions would seem to be fruitful here. Others could employ some of the practices I discussed in this essay to see how successful these practices seem to be in other settings. In addition, of course, instructors could experiment with practices of their own. I have found computer-mediated bulletin board discussions to be a valuable and exciting addition to my teaching, and I believe that the potential of these discussions to enrich and expand education has just begun to be tapped.