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Structuring Asynchronous Discussion Groups by Introducing Roles

Do Students Act in Line With Assigned Roles?

Ghent University, Belgium, Bram.DeWever{at}UGent.be

Tammy Schellens

Ghent University, Belgium

Hilde Van Keer

Ghent University, Belgium

Martin Valcke

Ghent University, Belgium

This study focused on the introduction of roles as a scripting tool in asynchronous text-based discussion groups. Five roles were selected: source searcher, theoretician, summarizer, moderator, and starter. Because existing research on role assignment often neglects to check whether the role assignment is successful, the main goal was to examine to what extent the participants enacted assigned roles. The study took place in the 1st year of a university course in Instructional Sciences (N = 200). Quantitative content analysis of students' postings was performed, and logistic regressions revealed that all participants enacted the roles they were assigned. The participants generally did not neglect other activities while discussing. The introduction of roles appeared to be a successful structuring intervention.

Key Words: role assignment • asynchronous discussion groups • computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) • content analysis

Small Group Research, Vol. 39, No. 6, 770-794 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1046496408323227


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