The social embeddedness of academic online groups as a norm generating structure: A test of the Coleman model on norm emergence

This paper analyzes two questions. First, under which conditions does a norm emerge in academic online groups that prescribes members to help others during group discussions? Second, what effects does such a norm, and other social conditions, have on the contributing behavior of researchers during online discussions? It is argued that the Coleman model (1990) on the emergence of norms points to an important condition that facilitates the realization of such a norm. According to the Coleman model (1990) a dense network among members of a group tends to strengthen a group norm. The paper makes a distinction between different kinds of academic online groups. The criterion of the distinction is the extent to which within the membership a highly integrated research community exists. An online group with a highly integrated research community is called to have a high degree of social embeddedness of its online communication in offline networks. It is hypothesized that a high degree of embeddedness has a number of effects. A higher degree of embeddedness leads to a stronger help-prescribing norm. The stronger the norm the more researchers send online answers to questions of their co-members during public online discussions. Furthermore, a high degree of embeddedness increases the answering behavior of researchers directly because it provides opportunities to gain reputation within the academic community through contributing to the discussion. The study makes use of data that consist of a combination of survey data and observed data of the communication behavior of researchers in about 50 international academic emailing lists. The results provide evidence for the expected effect of embeddedness on the strength of the norm and for the effect of embeddedness on the answering behavior of researchers. The strength of the help-prescribing norm indirectly influences the answering behavior

Social media integration for the purpose of self-regulated learning

In this study, design based research in a teacher design team is performed. Teachers who intend to use social media to extend their school class teaching, are confronted with a lack of clear guidelines that inform them how to utilize them effectively. In this study, we aim at formulating such guidelines and testing their usefulness. First, opportunities to facilitate self-regulated learning (SRL) in higher education through the use of social media are elaborated in a literature study. Second, these opportunities are translated into teacher education to search for stimulating and limiting factors within the design, resulting in guidelines for effective social media integration

Effectief gebruik van social media ter bevordering van zelfgestuurd leren.

Onderzoek laat zien dat veel leraren experimenteren met de inzet van social media in hun lessen. Hierbij lijkt er een natuurlijke verbinding te bestaan tussen de inzet van social media en het bevorderen van zelfgestuurd leren. Duidelijke richtlijnen voor effectief gebruik van social media ontbreken echter. In deze studie formuleren we dergelijke richtlijnen en onderzoeken we de gebruiksmogelijkheden ervan in een empirische pilotstudie. Eerst wordt er een literatuurstudie uitgevoerd naar mogelijkheden om zelfgestuurd leren te faciliteren met behulp van social media. Vervolgens worden deze bevindingen vertaald naar richtlijnen. Tenslotte worden deze richtlijnen geïmplementeerd in een pabomodule. Hierbij wordt gezocht naar bevorderende en belemmerende factoren in het ontwerp, uitmondend in richtlijnen voor effectief gebruik van social media ter bevordering van zelfgestuurd leren

The fear of big brother:The potential negative side-effects of proctored exams

Background: Online and blended learning need an appropriate assessment strategy which ensures academic integrity. During the pandemic, many universities have chosen for online proctoring. Although some earlier examples suggest that online proctoring may reduce cheating, the potential side-effects of proctoring are largely unknown. Objectives: Therefore, this study aims to identify the effects of proctoring on students' self-reported temptation to cheat and potentially undesirable side-effects, including test anxiety, perceived exam difficulty, and performance. In addition, we examine which contextual and student characteristics affect test anxiety during online exams. Methods: For this, we collected four waves of survey data throughout a year of teaching during the pandemic at one faculty of a Dutch university, resulting in a total sample of 1760 students within 105 courses. Results and Conclusions: Multi-level analyses showed that while proctoring had no effect on the temptation to cheat, exam difficulty or performance, students reported higher levels of test anxiety. Some learning strategies, internet literacy, access to a reliable technology and a dedicated study space as well as gender and financial stress affect their test anxiety. To conclude, the decision to use online proctoring needs to consider the undesirable side-effect on test anxiety. We discuss practical implications for university administrators, educational designers and teachers to reduce test anxiety.</p

De impact van sociale media integratie in het voortgezet onderwijs: Van ‘one size fits all’ naar studentgerichte integratie

De impact van sociale media integratie in het voortgezet onderwijs: Van ‘one size fits all’ naar studentgerichte integratie. Eindrapport van het onderzoek voor de stichting Kennisnet