Online High School World History: Does Interaction Make a Difference?
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Authors
Herring, Laura Cutchin
Issue Date
2007-05
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
interaction , online history course , high school
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this action research study was to investigate the relationship between interaction
and student learning experiences in an online high school world history course. As outlined in
the action research proposal, the increased opportunities for interaction in this study included the
addition of a virtual office discussion board, a student lounge discussion board, a biography
assignment, and a highly interactive assignment on a unit on European absolute monarchies. As
described in the article manuscript, data was collected before, during, and after the intervention
using pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys, student interviews, pretests and posttests on
social studies content, and teacher observations and recordings. The results showed that
participants preferred high levels of interaction with the course instructor, but did not consider
interaction with their peers as important as interaction with the instructor. Results also indicated
the amount of interaction that participants had with the instructor and with one another had little
effect on student performance, as measured by improvement in pretest and posttest scores and
grades on the absolute monarchies assignment.