Using community development theory to improve student engagement in online discussion: a case study

Figures & data

Table 1. Timetable of events.

	Task	Salmon’s five stages	Support activity	Research activity
Week 1				First skills audit (detailed)
Week 2			First hands-on WebCT workshop
Week 3	Task One: Introductions	Stage One: Access and motivation	Second hands-on WebCT workshop
Week 4	Task Two: Performance Targets	Stage Two: Online socialization		Second skills audit (light touch)
Week 5
Week 6	Task Three: Information Exchange	Stage Three: Information exchange
Week 7	Task Four: Management Issues	Stage Four: Knowledge construction
Week 8
Week 9	Task Five: Performance Review	Stage Five: Development		Students’ reflection on motivation in Task Five
Week 10
Week 11				Interviews
Week 12				Interviews

Table 2. Meeting deadlines.

Deadline	% on time	% 1 to 7 days late	% over 7 days late
1	76	12	12
2	24	36	40
3	24	44	32
4	24	12	64
5	76	12	12

Table 3. Examples of feelings at the start of the activity.

A	At the start I was just a bit overwhelmed by the whole university thing. … Some people are quite confident. I’m not very confident.
B	At the beginning I had absolutely no idea what we were doing or what [WebCT] was for, or the relevance of it. I just thought it was another kind of tool the university was using that didn’t really matter; you could just kind of skip over it and forget about it. … To be fair, before I started University I wasn’t that PC literate. I have had to learn everything again really. On a personal level that’s probably got something to do with it [delayed engagement].
C	At the start I was absolutely against [online discussion] 100%. I couldn’t have hated it more – the whole concept of doing it. Really hated the idea of it. In actual fact I was thinking of dropping [the subject].
D	At the beginning, I was having a lot of problems with self-confidence and trying to get to grips with the computer system. I’d given up rather easily, ran away, or whatever. But through determination, through just perseverance, I got to know it really well and ended up enjoying it.