Can Connectivism Explain How Students learn?
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This is a presentation for the PhD thesis entitled: Can Connectivism Explain How Students learn? By Alaa AlDahdouh, under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Osorio and Prof. Susana Caires
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Can Connectivism Explain How Students learn?
- 1. Can Connectivism Explain How Students Learn? Based on a dissertation submitted for University of Minho, Institute of Education to obtain a PhD degree By: Alaa AlDahdouh 16.05.2022
- 2. Agenda • Research Problems • Background • Contributions • Methodology • Results • Conclusion
- 3. Research Problems •Can Connectivism explain how higher education students learn? • What kind of nodes does a student contact? • How does a student form a connection? • Why does a student form a connection in that way? • What is a student feeling while connecting to different nodes? • When does a student prefer external network over internal network and vice versa?
- 4. Background •What is Connectivism? Knowledge Network Student Node Web Page Node Teacher Node Fellow student Node Book Node
- 5. Background • We presented our understanding of Connectivism in a separate work Aldahdouh, A. A., Osório, A. J., & Caires, S. (2015). Understanding knowledge network, learning and connectivism. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 12(10), 3–21. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.46186 The Downes Prize 2015 In addition to being the most read post in OLDaily this year, this article was a personal favourite of mine.
- 6. Background •Other theories: • Learning styles: student’s preferable way to learn • Digital Literacy: A set of capabilities the student needs to explore the internet. • Online Experience: How students experience and use technology. • Psychology of Learning: Motivation Emotion Self-efficacy, Achievement Goals, Intrinsic Motivation Control-value theory
- 7. Contributions • Tracked the students' activities in a holistic way, during their daily life. • Addressed the story of each student on a task-by-task basis. • Expressed the students’ voice. • Proposed and tested an innovative research design
- 8. Methodology 9 Participants Researcher Invitation Informed consent & Personal info. Install applications Any resource Give a Task Retrospective Think aloud Search & Record 10 Tasks Post-Experiment Questionnaire Cash Gift 1 2 3
- 9. Methodology •Data Analysis • Directory Content Analysis (Self-developed tool) • Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (SPSS) • Step Analysis (Self-developed tool & Microsoft Excel) • Qualitative Data Analysis (ATLAS.ti 7)
- 10. Results • What kind of nodes does a student contact?
- 11. Read more about the type of nodes the students select and the distribution of nodes on our study AlDahdouh, A.A. (2019). Individual learning experience in connectivist environment: A qualitative sequence analysis. International Journal of Research in Education and Science (IJRES), 5(2), 488-509 Results • What kind of nodes does a student contact?
- 12. Results • How does a student form a connection? General interpretation 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
- 13. Results • How does a student form a connection? Read more about the criteria used by students to select on node over anther and their cognitive and evaluation processes on our study AlDahdouh, A.A. Jumping from one resource to another: how do students navigate learning networks?. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 15, 45 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0126-x
- 14. Results How does a student form a connection? Node Interactions
- 15. Results • How does a student form a connection? Read more about information search behaviour in connectivist learning network on our study AlDahdouh, A. A. (2021). Information search behavior in fragile and conflict-affected learning contexts. The Internet and Higher Education, 50, 100808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100808
- 16. Results • Why does a student form a connection in that way? In higher level (the reasons to engage in a task): • Newness (weak) • Task-oriented goal • Self-oriented goal • Other-oriented goal • Peer-oriented goal • Teacher-oriented goal (new) • Extrinsic motivation
- 17. Results • Why does a student form a connection in that way? In lower level (the reasons to connect to a specific node): Self-Efficacy Eligibility Feasibility High Self-efficacy Authority Ease of Use Low Self-Efficacy Recommended Resource Relatedness Usefulness potentiality Remained Resource
- 18. Results • What is a student feeling while connecting to different nodes? Activating Deactivating Negative Confusion Irony Anger Anxiety Shame Frustration Hopelessness Boredom Sadness Regret Positive Enjoyment Hope Surprise Happiness Pride Relief The results supported Pekrun’s et al. (2011) model.
- 19. Results • What is a feeling while connecting to different nodes? Read more about the type of emotions student experience when problem solving in connectivist learning environment on our study AlDahdouh, A. A. (2020). Emotions among students engaging in connectivist learning experiences. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(2), 98–117. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i2.4586
- 20. Results • When does a student prefer external network over internal network and vice versa? External Node Internal Node • Low Self-Efficacy • Time Consumption of Internal nodes • Failure of using Internal nodes • Perceived value of using Internal nodes • Repetition and time overhead of using External nodes • Failure of using External node
- 21. Conclusion • Connectivism theory provides a valuable framework for interpreting how the higher education students learn, but it still needs some refinements: • Connectivism’s principles didn’t mention clearly the evaluation process of the nodes as a distinctive and needed skill for learning. • Learners in regular universities are busy and driven by academic tasks and they are not aware of Personal Network Learning approach.
- 22. Conclusion • The principle of Connectivism indicating that the newness is the intent of all connectivist learning activities didn’t reflect the diversity of the participants’ goals. • Although the thesis supported – to a certain degree - connectivist’s assumption that negative emotions encourage students to make new connections, this was not always the case.
- 23. List of Publication • AlDahdouh, A. A. (2021). Information search behavior in fragile and conflict-affected learning contexts. The Internet and Higher Education, 50, 100808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100808 • AlDahdouh, A. A. (2020). Emotions among students engaging in connectivist learning experiences. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(2), 98–117. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i2.4586 • AlDahdouh, A. A. (2019). Individual learning experience in connectivist environment: A qualitative sequence analysis. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 5(2), 488–509. https://www.ijres.net/index.php/ijres/article/view/536 • AlDahdouh, A. A. (2018). Jumping from resource to another: How do students navigate learning networks?. Manuscript submitted for publication. • AlDahdouh, A. A. (2018). Visual Inspection of Sequential Data: A Research Instrument for Qualitative Data Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 23(7), 1631–1649. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3295 • Aldahdouh, A. A. (2017). Does Artificial Neural Network support Connectivism’s assumptions? International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 14(3), 3–26. http://itdl.org/Journal/Mar_17/Mar17.pdf#page=7 • Aldahdouh, A. A., & Osório, A. J. (2016). Planning to Design MOOC? Think First! The Online Journal of Distance Education and E- Learning, 4(2), 47–57. https://www.tojdel.net/journals/tojdel/articles/v04i02/v04i02-06.pdf • Aldahdouh, A. A., Osório, A. J., & Caires, S. (2015). Understanding knowledge network, learning and Connectivism. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 12(10), 3–21. http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Oct_15/Oct15.pdf#page=7
- 24. Thank you!
Editor's Notes
- I am Alaa AlDahdouh, and this is a presentation for the PhD thesis entitled: Can Connectivism Explain How Students learn? Under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Osorio and Prof. Susana Caires
- In this presentation, we will cover the following main points: Research Problems Background Contributions Methodology Results Conclusion
- The main research question of the study is the same as the PhD title: Can Connectivism explain how higher education students learn? Based on this main question, five sub-questions were formulated: What kind of nodes does a student contact? How does a student form a connection? Why does a student form a connection in that way? What is a student feeling while connecting to different nodes? When does a student prefer external network over internal network and vice versa?
- What is Connectivism? Connectivism is a theory which presumes that knowledge is a network. In this network, a student is a node, the book is a node, the teacher is a node, the web page is a node, and the fellow student is a node. When a student refers to a book, that is a connection. When he asks his teacher, that is a connection. When he visits a website, that is a connection. And even when he talks to himself, that is a connection. Therefore and according to Connectivism, learning is a process in which the student finds his way through this network and makes sense of the pattern existed in the network.
- We presented our understanding of Connectivism in a separated work: Aldahdouh, A. A., Osório, A. J., & Caires, S. (2015). Understanding knowledge network, learning and connectivism. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 12(10), 3–21. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.46186 And it seems that this work has attracted the attention of Stepen Downes, one of connectivism’s key founder.
- Of course we didn’t count on the connectivism alone to interpret our results. Namely, we have visited the literature on: Learning Styles, Digital Literacy, Online Experience, and the psychology of learning represented by the recent theories in motivation (Self-efficacy, Achievement Goals, Intrinsic Motivation), in addition to Control-value theory for the emotion analysis.
- What set this thesis apart from other works in the field is that it: Tracked the students’ activities in a holistic way, during their daily life, Addressed the story of each student on a task-by-task basis, Expressed the students’ voice, Proposed and tested an innovative research design.
- The experimental part of the study was done online and included the researcher (who was located in Finland) along with 9 participants located in Gaza Strip, in Palestine. The procedures of the study consisted of three stages. In the first stage, the researcher invited the participants and the participants filled in the informed consent and provided their personal information. After that the researcher helped the participants to install and configure the required software applications (required for communication and recording their activities). In the second stage, the researcher gave each participants 10 tasks (one after another). The researcher also instructed the participants to provide answer for the given task while recording any activity they do in this process. After that, the participants joined Retrospective think-aloud sessions to report what were in their mind while they were doing what they did. In the third and final stage, the participants filled in a post-experiment questionnaire and received a cash gift for their participation. Read more about the methodology in multiple works: AlDahdouh, A. A. (2021). Information search behavior in fragile and conflict-affected learning contexts. The Internet and Higher Education, 50, 100808, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100808 AlDahdouh, A. A. (2019). Individual Learning Experience in Connectivist Environment: A Qualitative Sequence Analysis. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 5(2), 488-509. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1204350
- The data generated in this study were analyzed in different ways, which included: Directory Content Analysis Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Step Analysis Qualitative Data Analysis
- The results of the thesis were organized based on the research questions. What kind of nodes does a student contact? It is clear from the table that the students consulted a wide spectrum of nodes. In general, there was a general tendency toward external nodes (in comparison to internal nodes). Both searching internet and asking people were somehow equal. The participants seemed to prefer asking people online more than face-to-face. And there was a general tendency toward new technologies (such as Facebook and WhatsApp) in comparison to old technologies (such as email and Skype). A dangerous sign in the experiment was that some students preferred to give up 7 times (even though they were allowed to do whatever they wanted to).
- Read more about the type of nodes the students refer to when encounter questions to answer on our paper: AlDahdouh, A.A. (2019). Individual learning experience in connectivist environment: A qualitative sequence analysis. International Journal of Research in Education and Science (IJRES), 5(2), 488-509
- How does a student form a connection? We answer this questions in three different ways. How a student forms a connection can be understood as a process comprises three consecutive steps: Planning & forethought: in this stage, the participant decides which node to connect to among all available nodes. Cognitive processing: in this stage, the participant interacts with the node (read the book he chose, or ask the person he preferred). Evaluation: in this stage, the participant judges the value of the node he was interacting with. And these three steps continue until the participant finds a solution or gives up.
- Read more about the criteria used by students to (1) select, (2) process, (3) and judge the nodes on our paper: AlDahdouh, A.A. Jumping from one resource to another: how do students navigate learning networks?. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 15, 45 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0126-x
- How a student forms a connection can also be seen as a process of building a personal learning network. This process is adopted and adapted from the connectivism’s literature. The process consists of four interrelated steps: Information search Inform use Remix & Repurpose Share In “Information Search” stage, the participants tended to inter a loop of: Formulating keywords for search engine Choosing one of links showed by the search engine Evaluating the content of the resource they chose. The participants went in this cycle for a while. In some occasions, they decided to “use the information” presented in the resource. Using the information came in two forms: Copying and pasting or Establishing a connection (follow a Facebook page or subscribe in a newsletter). With a note that establishing a connection was rare. After gathering the information in the previous step, the participants “remixed” what they collected by (1) coloring, rearranging, deleting, commenting, and judging the value of content. (2) In some other occasions, they “apply” what they found on their computers (while watching YouTube for example). (1) Sharing the product of their work were rare while (2) most of the participants actually shared and “discussed” the question with their friends on Facebook.
- Read more about the information search behavior of students when problem solving on full connected learning settings on our paper: AlDahdouh, A. A. (2021). Information search behavior in fragile and conflict-affected learning contexts. The Internet and Higher Education, 50, 100808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100808
- Why does a student form a connection in that way? We answered this question in two levels. In higher level, connectivism proposed that the Newness would be the goal of the students, but in the experiment, we didn’t find support to this proposal. In comparison, we found support to other goals identified in the literature such as: Task-oriented goal Self-oriented goal Other-oriented goal, and Extrinsic motivation
- In lower level, the qualitative data analysis revealed three main reasons to select a node in the knowledge network: Self-efficacy Eligibility of the source Feasibility of the source Each one of those factors is graded from strong to weak in a continuum scale. Read more on our paper: AlDahdouh, A.A. Jumping from one resource to another: how do students navigate learning networks?. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 15, 45 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-018-0126-x
- What is a student feeling while connecting to different nodes? Our results strongly supported the literature where the dominant feeling were Negative-Activating feeling: such as Confusion, Anger and Anxiety. However, the list of emotions listed under each category is different. Moreover, we found some evidence that negative-activating emotion have positive effects on student performance, and their negative effects occur only when they develop to ‘negative-deactivating’ emotion. Therefore, the negative effects of ‘negative-activating’ emotion is mediated by the ‘negative-deactivating’ emotion. The results may still need to be investigated thoroughly with larger sample size.
- Read more about student’s feeling and the distribution of emotions across all node types in connectivist learning environment on our paper: AlDahdouh, A. A. (2020). Emotions among students engaging in connectivist learning experiences. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(2), 98–117. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i2.4586
- Finally, when does a student prefer external network over internal network? Our results supported a cyclic model in which the factors which led the participants from Internal node to External node were different than which that led them from External to Internal node. Namely, there were three factors which lead to External node: Low self-efficacy Time Consumption of Internal nodes Failure of using Internal nodes In contrast, there were three – other – factors which lead to Internal node: Perceived value of using Internal nodes Repetition and time overhead of using External nodes Failure of using External node The results to be published on upcoming studies. Alternatively, find some details in the dissertation “Can Connectivism Explain How Students learn?”
- This thesis has resulted in producing six journal article so far.
- Thank you.