Creating a safe, open environment for discussion is a critical first step in examining topics of diversity. Because public schools may be the only social arena in the United States where different social classes, ethnicities, and genders come together on a regular basis, it is important to involve preservice teachers in discussions involving…

How does an African American feminist psychologist develop and promote an interdisciplinary sexuality course placing the experiences of African American women at the center of analysis while simultaneously maintaining its relevance to all students? This article provides answers by explaining how a course's title, perspective, structure, and…

I taught 4 types of EFL courses to undergraduate students online: Grammar, writing, culture and study skills using Blackboard and Nicenet. Online instruction was used as a supplement to traditional in-class instruction. Significant differences were found between pre- and post-test scores in writing, grammar and culture but not in study skills. The…

This article presents a theoretical process model for students engaging in dialogic learning about issues of race and anti-oppression. The model identifies conditions present in the dialogue process and demonstrates how these conditions, when coordinated with certain interventions and strategies, help to create particular outcomes for…

Blended learning can facilitate many opportunities about usage of online discussion for different purposes. As a tool in blended learning, online discussions widen the walls of classroom discussions in a virtual manner. Especially, in teacher education programs case based discussions are very helpful for pre-service teachers to practice real-life…

This study explores the relationship between the structure of an existing social network and the structure of an emergent discussion-board network in an undergraduate university class. Thirty-one students were issued with laptop computers that remained in their possession for the duration of the semester. While using these machines, participants'…

The present study offers a holistic and rich description (as recommended by Ellis, 1999b) of the sociopragmatic features of exchanges among first-year learners of German. Specifically, it examines the use of opening and closing sequences, patterns of topic assignment, and maintenance by participants in computer-mediated interactions in order to…

Emerging research has revealed the impact of electronic media usage on student outcomes, such as satisfaction and reported learning efficacy. However, little is known of its impact on measurable knowledge acquisition. Results from this study showed that participation on discussion topics through Blackboard, an electronic discussion forum,…

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have become an integral component of Physical Education (PE) and Sport Science (SS) curricula and professions. It is thus imperative that PE and SS students develop ICT skills, self-efficacy in ICT and positive attitudes towards ICT. This study was aimed at designing a computer literacy course…

Deep cognitive thinking refers to a learner's purposeful and conscious manipulation of ideas toward meaningful learning. Strategies such as journaling/blogging and peer feedback have been found to promote deep thinking. This article reports a research study about the effects of two different blog leader styles on students' deep thinking as…

Due to the increased importance and usage of self-managed virtual teams, many recent studies have examined factors that affect their success. One such factor that merits examination is the configuration or composition of virtual teams. This article tackles this point by (1) empirically testing trait-configuration effects on virtual team…

This paper argues that the emotional state of students' contributions need to be addressed in an online learning community. If feelings of fear, anger or isolation can lead to withdrawal or conflict then the potential for learning is reduced and a facilitator of an online course needs to manage these emotions at an early stage. Therefore, a…

The Common Ground Multicultural Dialogue program in the Department of Resident Life at the University of Maryland is an innovative peer education program designed to teach skills for engagement through exploration of contemporary multicultural societal dilemmas. The Common Ground Dialogue Program was launched in 2000 to provide undergraduate…

While there is agreement that participation in online asynchronous discussions can enhance student learning, it has also been identified that there is a need to investigate the impact of participation in online discussions on student course performance. This paper presents a case study based on an undergraduate engineering management unit…

This study examined students' perceptions of peer feedback and learning in a large, undergraduate course that incorporated supplementary online discussions. Peer feedback (PF) was facilitated via an automated rating system, within Blackboard discussion forums, for half of the students enrolled in the course. Following the peer feedback process,…