Paul Gorskya, Avner Caspia and Samantha Smidtb

1
Students' Utilization of Instructional Resources
in a Difficult Distance Education Physics Course

• Paul Gorskya, Avner Caspia and Samantha Smidtb
• a Open University of Israel
• b Open University, UK

2

• Theory of Instructional Dialogue
• Research
• Findings and Conclusions

3
Theory of Instructional Dialogue

• 1. Every element in an instructional system is
  either a dialogue or a resource which supports
  dialogue.
• 2. Certain structural and human resources
• correlate with the type, amount and
• duration of interpersonal dialogue that
• occurs both in-class and out.

4
DIALOGUES

• INTRAPERSONAL
• The interaction between student and
  subject-matter that occurs when (and only when)
  it is mediated by a given instructional resource.

• INTERPERSONAL
• Instructor - Student
• Student - Student
• f-2-f or mediated by communications media if
  mediated, synchronous or asynchronous.

5

• HUMAN RESOURCES
• Faculty
• Students
• (Significant others)
• STRUCTURAL RESOURCES
• Instructional materials
• Group size / Instructional design
• Teacher / Student Accessibility

6
RESEARCH

• Participants 121 students at Open U, UK in an
  undergraduate Quantum Mechanics course perceived
  (by them) as difficult or very difficult.
• Tactical Approaches to Study Questionnaire

7

• Structural Resources
• Text (intra)
• FirstClass conference (intra inter)
• Tutorial sessions (intra inter)
• Face-to-face meetings (inter)
• Telephone (inter)
• E-mail (inter)
• Self-help groups (inter)

8
FINDINGS

• Profiles Reading TMAs
• Intrapersonal only 43.8 54.2
• Intra to Inter 40.5 33.1
• Intra to Inter to Intra 9.9 6.8
• Other 5.8
  5.9
• Totals 100 100

9
FINDINGS

• Structural resources - intrapersonal dialogue
• text, alternative texts, FirstClass conf, other
• Human resources - interpersonal dialogue
• tutor, outsider, peer
• 1st structural resource - interpersonal dialogue
• Telephone

10
References

• Gorsky, P. and Caspi, A. (2005). Dialogue A
  theoretical framework for distance education
  instructional systems. British Journal of
  Educational Technology, 36(2), 137-144.
• 2. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Chajut, E. (2007).
  Instructional dialogue Toward a unified theory
  of instructional design in the cognitive domain.
  In R. Zheng and S. Pixy-Ferris (Eds.). Online
  Instructional Modeling Theories and Practice.
  Hershey, PA Idea Group, Inc. (in press).
• 3. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Trumper, R. (2004).
  Dialogue in a distance education physics course.
  Open Learning, 19(3), 265-277.
• 4. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A., and Trumper, R.
  (2006). Campus-based university students use of
  dialogue. Studies in Higher Education, 31(1),
  71-87.
• 5. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Tuvi-Arad I.
  (2004). Use of instructional dialogue by
  university students in a distance education
  chemistry course. Journal of Distance Education,
  19(1), 1-19.
• Caspi, A. and Gorsky, P. (2006). Open university
  students use of dialogue. Studies in Higher
  Education, 31(6), 735-752.
• 7. Gorsky, P., Caspi, A. and Smidt, S. (2007).
  The dialogic behavior of Open University students
  in a difficult physics course. Journal of
  Distance Education, 22(1), (in press).