Validity Centered Design for the Domain of Engaged Collaborative Discourse in Computer Conferencing

VALIDITY CENTERED DESIGN FOR THE DOMAIN OF ENGAGED COLLABORATIVE DISCOURSE IN COMPUTER CONFERENCING Man C. Xin Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology Doctor of Philosophy This dissertation represents an effort to bring theory, measurement, and technology together in the analysis of engaged collaborative discourse in computer conferencing. The methodology applied is based on validity-centered design. Validitycentered design joins theory with data in the study of learning phenomena and emphasizes the co-development of theory, measurement instruments, and technology. In particular, it requires obtaining supporting evidence for an iterative development process emphasizing overall appeal, usability, subject perceived value, content, substantive processes, structure, generalizability, criteria, and consequences. Based on an extensive literature review and a series of pilot studies, this dissertation first establishes an initial theory that describes the content and substantive processes of engaged collaborative discourse (ECD). It depicts the rich dynamics of communication, intellectual engagement, and the intrinsic motives for participation in computer conferencing. The role of moderating functions is explained in bringing together these aspects of the online educational experience. Based on the initial theory of ECD, an interpretative framework is provided to map learning and growth in ECD. This framework describes tasks to be performed at increasingly sophisticated stages of collaborative discourse along a unidimensional scale. The interpretative framework provides a basis for developing measurement instruments to assess the quality of ECD. To translate the initial theory of ECD into practice, the dissertation proposes a design for an improved computer conferencing technology called “TextWeaver.” TextWeaver is a customized news reader that allows students and teachers to easily read, compose, categorize, annotate, and store discussion items in an educational forum. The use of TextWeaver is expected to improve communication and social and intellectual engagement in an online discourse environment. Future work will be done to continue validating and developing the theory, the instrument and the technology in real online conference settings.