The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of conducting asynchronous online discussion forums on low-achieving EFL students in Taiwan. 124 non-English program students from a technological university participated. Based on a textbook, one to three questions were assigned every other week. An asynchronous learning mode was implemented…

Neo magnets are neodymium magnet beads that have been marketed as a desktop toy. We proposed using neo magnets as an alternative building block to traditional ball-and-stick models to construct carbon allotropes, such as fullerene and various nanocone structures. Due to the lack of predetermined physical connections, the versatility of carbon…

The primary purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge construction behaviour and cognitive patterns involved in students' online discussion using online forum and Facebook (FB). This study employed quantitative content analysis and lag sequential analysis to examine the content and behavioural patterns of 50 students from a private…

Many studies have identified web-based cooperative learning as an increasingly popular educational paradigm with potential to increase learner satisfaction and interactions. However, peer-to-peer interaction often suffers barriers owing to a failure to explore useful social interaction information in web-based cooperative learning environments.…

Online discussion forums represent "online collaborative learning spaces in which communities become engaged in the discourse on a topic about which they share common interests or goals" (Montero, Watts & Garcia-Carbonell, 2007, p. 568). This digital communication modality has been claimed to enhance second/foreign language (L2)…

This study investigated how the different discussion approaches in Facebook influenced students' scientific knowledge acquisition and the nature of science (NOS) views. Two eighth- and two ninth-grade classes in a Taiwanese junior high school participated in the study. In two of the classes students engaged in synchronous discussion, and in the…

This study examines the use of formulaic language in an intercultural communication encounter. It focuses particularly on phatic expressions used in an online discussion about gender stereotypes in English among 167 undergraduate university students in Taiwan, Israel, and the US. Content analysis methodology was used to examine whether there are…

The purpose of the study was to explore a learning behavioral model of project-based learning (PBL) for senior high school students in the context of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Using "audio speakers" as the project theme, a series of tasks were designed to be solved using STEM knowledge via an online…

An online learning community enables learners to access up-to-date information via the Internet anytime--anywhere because of the ubiquity of the World Wide Web (WWW). Students can also interact with one another during the learning process. Hence, researchers want to determine whether such interaction produces learning synergy in an online learning…

This study explored the differences among online elementary school student groups based on their communication features. Two hundred and ninety-one Taiwanese students, ranging in age from 11 to 12 years old, participated in this study. The students were randomly arranged within-class into three-member groups. Each group was asked to use a…

Project-based learning using online learning environments is becoming increasingly popular. To in-depth explore the behavioural patterns and limitations faced by students in project-based learning where online forums are used. This study conducted an empirical case study of an online project-based learning activity in a management course, in which…

This paper reports on an empirical research on the Interaction Equivalency Theorem posited by Anderson (2003a), consisting of the three elements of teacher-student-content interaction. Using an author-developed survey, the paper reports the priority order of interaction elements to assure learning quality with two parameters of learning modes and…

This study investigated the application of an online videocase discussion community into fostering preservice and inservice EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers' professional development in Taiwan. This investigation further revealed the nature and development of discussion discourse and the participating teachers' perceptions of this…

The Internet promotes computer-mediated communications, and so asynchronous learning network systems permit more flexibility in time, space, and interaction than synchronous mode of learning. The key point of asynchronous learning is the materials for web-aided teaching and the flow of knowledge. This research focuses on improving online…

The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship between critical thinking skills (CTS) and critical thinking dispositions (CTD), and (2) the effectiveness of different levels of instructional strategy (asynchronous online discussions (AODs), CTS instruction via AODs, and CTS instruction with CTD cultivation via AODs) in improving…