When Topics Are Controversial: Is It Better to Discuss Them Face-to-Face or Online?

1
When Topics Are ControversialIs It Better to
Discuss Them Face-to-Face or Online?

• Katrina Meyer
• Technology Fellow Program Project

2
Goal Statement

• To compare student assessments of discussions on
  controversial topics in a face-to-face (F2F) and
  online (OL) setting.

3
Project Context and Rationale

• Interested in determining which discussions on
  which topics work better in which setting (F2F
  vs. OL).
• Project would help me improve the quality of
  mixed-methods courses.
• HIAD program is moving toward a mixed-methods
  delivery approach.
• Project required new skills using WebCT to do
  assessment.

4
Action Plan

• HIAD 8412, Historical and Policy Perspectives in
  Higher Education, is a doctoral-level course.
• Scheduled discussions on five controversial
  topics
• Diversity
• Academic Freedom
• Political Tolerance
• Affirmative Action
• Gender
• Readings on each topic were assigned.
• Students developed the questions they wanted to
  discuss.

5
Action Plan

• Separated questions into Blooms taxonomy levels.
  
• Know, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate,
  Create
• Allocated questions at similar levels to each
  setting (F2F and online).
• Students discussed questions F2F in class and
  completed paper survey.
• Students participated in OL discussion from class
  to next class session and completed an OL survey
  (same as F2F survey) and a comparison survey.

6
Action Plan

• Instrument Post Discussion (F2F OL)
• Assessed student
• Comfort
• Honesty
• Concern for others feelings
• Similarity of feelings to others
• Willingness to disagree
• Comparison Instrument
• Compared the F2F and OL discussions.
• Example Was the face-to-face or the online
  discussion more comfortable?
• Could choose F2F, online, or no difference

7
Action Plan

• Additional Comparison
• Students asked what important insight they
  learned from the discussions and
• Where (which setting) learning occurred.
• Final Exam
• Students asked, for each topic, which setting
  worked best for them and
• Rank ordered discussions by topic.

8
Results
Diversity Discussions (Mean Responses)
Question
NOTES Very 1, Moderately 2, Somewhat 3, A
little 4, Not at all 5
9
Results
Academic Freedom Discussions (Mean Responses)
NOTES Very 1, Moderately 2, Somewhat 3, A
little 4, Not at all 5
10
Results
Political Tolerance Discussions (Mean Responses)
NOTES Very 1, Moderately 2, Somewhat 3, A
little 4, Not at all 5
11
Results
Affirmative Action Discussions (Mean Responses)
NOTES Very 1, Moderately 2, Somewhat 3, A
little 4, Not at all 5
12
Results
Gender Discussions (Mean Responses)
13
Results
Examples of Learning Drawn from Face-to-Face or
Online Discussions
14
Results
Mean Rank of Discussions and Preference for
Face-to-Face or Online Setting From Final Exam
15
Results
Mean Responses by Setting, Over Topics

NOTES Very 1, Moderately 2, Somewhat 3, A
little 4, Not at all 5
16
Results
Age and Race, Over Topics
NOTES Very 1, Moderately 2, Somewhat 3, A
little 4, Not at all 5 YYoung (20s)
MMature (30s and above) AAAfrican American
CCaucasian
17
Discussion

• Differences
• In Topic? Not really . . .
• In Race of student? Not really . . .
• In Age of student? Yes . . .
• One of the younger students noted being amazed
  that everyone could discuss such hot topics and
  still respect each other.
• Older students outposted younger students.
• Majority of students prefer F2F, despite
  discomfort.
• Why? They were fun . . . and topics matter.

18
Discussion

• When topics are controversial, students feel
  discomfort and are more aware of others feelings
  in the F2F setting.
• Why? They are right in front of them!
• Will take more classes with the same students.
• Race, politics, and gender generated
  disagreements F2F.
• OL discussions were simply by contrast -- more
  agreeable and less heated.
• When discussions were less testy F2F
• Students could feel more at ease disagreeing OL.
• Discussions were rarely heated and when heated,
  never directed to other students.

19
Discussion

• African Americans less concerned about hurting
  others feelings and more willing to disagree.
• Dissenting is hard but adds to ones credibility.
  
• If dissenting is hardest F2F, the value of that
  setting is raised
• Students of both races may say difficult things,
  experience discomfort and worry, but suffer no
  harm. (Gladwell, 2002)
• The African-American students were on the whole
  mature and confident, and a majority.
• Limit 10 students (will repeat in Fall 2006,
  Fall 2007) in same class.

20
Next Steps

• Confirm or qualify race/age differences
• (Spring-Summer 2006)
• Explore relative nature of comparisons
• Explore nature of different settings
• Energy and fun (F2F)
• Reflection and editing (OL)
• Explore how students shape discussions
• (Data collected Spring 2006 analysis Summer 2006)

21
Next Steps

• Dissemination
• Article in press
• Innovative Higher Education (for special issue on
  online learning)
• Qualitative exploration of age/race differences
  in online discussions
• Paper proposal submitted to Association for the
  Study of Higher Education (ASHE) 2006 Conference
• Future Involvement
• Further research
• More experiments