Connectivist Questionnaire
Here is a draft of a process-based, ‘connectivist’ questionnaire, which I have started to think through from the point of view of my own experience, and the experience of some of the people on the course that I interacted with most. There is an implicit focus on ‘presence’ and ‘modes of presence’, or you can call it ‘different types of voice’, or becoming a member of a community (and sub-communities), or finding the right kind of ‘space’ for what you want or need to do at a particular time- all of which are affordances, and all of which can be realised through a variety of types of interaction and writing, interactions and media.
The questions have been formulated so that we can elicit responses that will enable us to say something about which affordances were explored, benchmarked and mastered (or ‘realised’), and where and how the participants did that. I like the idea of cross-tabulating what we are asking to cognitive/ learning/interactive styles, as different people develop, realise and master different kinds of affordances, depending on what they want to do, what they want to become, and what kinds of roles suit them best.
The questions include considerable overlap, with many of the affordances to be found in more than one medium (forums, blogs, etc). This research wiki is an interesting example of this – we are using it for blogging, wiki-ing and discussing, as well as cross-posing to some ning-ing, and we are also inter-lacing it with other blogs and wikis and emails: the borders and distinctions of ‘blogs’ and ‘discussions’ are subject to what we want to achieve, which is primarily affordance driven, not technology driven, no?
This requires that most of the statements in the ‘blogs and discussions’ parts of the questions (e.g. 2.1 to 2.13) should be ‘affordance-type’ statements.
This “connectivist” research design aims to explore and describe the way participants
All of which should provide some answers to the “connectivist” questions:
Did participants progress
So its an attempt for us to find out how they used blogs and discussions, but it is alsoan attempt to collaboratively explore with the respondents to the questionnaire, how they think they have shifted, progressed, changed, re-configured the way they engage in these kinds of environments.
Note: each statement should have a scale for responses, from disagree [1] to agree [5] – I would use a 7 point scale, as I think a 5 point scale doesn’t require enough thinking, but I am happy to go with the consensus, which seems to be 5, and it might make it more user friendly. I would also just use numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) without categorising them as ‘strongly’ etc. There are an awful lot of statements here. If we went with as many statements as this then I think we may need the 7 point scale to keep people thinking.
Comment:
1. I have done a rough edit, merge and consolidation job on all the position and process issues, in an attempt to integrate them into a coherent whole. I have also done some gardening, or pruning, on the material in section 3 (en route), but this section in particular could do with more work. I have put in some comments - but I haven't yet checked back against aby of Matthias and John's work on this. I have used similar or the same items in the blogs and discussion statements, quite deliberately.
2. I have included the personal style / disposition just as is, in section 6 – I haven’t given it much thought, but it looks good to me so far, and I presume other people have looked at it in more detail.
3. I realise that some of the material in section 1 (engagement) duplicates some of the statements in the ‘pre-amble/ profile material at the head of the questionnaire. I think it makes sense to include it here, as it makes the questionnaire more coherent, in terms of a ‘connectivist’ questionnaire, but you might like to change it. If we leave it here, we will have to edit and prune the ‘pre-amble’ section. I don't think that's a problem
4. I have tried, as I said in a comment on the wiki very recently, to keep the blogs/discussion distinction foregrounded, but to put it in a more flexible, dynamic, ‘ecological’/ ‘connectivist’ context, partly by using a fairly ‘iterative’ design. You need to see if this is successful, or if it shifts the research too far from what you might have had in mind originally. I will not be offended if the consensus is to revert to a less explicitly ‘connectivist’ approach – this has been a very interesting and challenging exercise for me, and quite instructive. And it still needs quite a bit of editing, changing, tightening up, and clarification in term of language.
5. I am not sure that I have included all of the relevant affordances in the list that Jenny (I think) did in the wiki – it might be useful to go back to that list too.
1. Engagement this section seems fine to me
When I started on the course I spent a lot of time and effort in…
1. The discussion forums started by other people 1…………..5
2 Discussion forums that I started. 1…………..5
3 Reading the background material for that week of the course 1 ………..5
4 Starting and writing a blog inside the course 1…………5
5 Keeping up my blog/s outside the course 1………5
6 Keeping up my wiki/s outside the course. 1………5
7 Participating on other wikis 1………5
8 Joining and participating in Facebook inside the course 1………5
9 In the 2nd life site of the course. 1………5
10 In other 2nd life sites 1………5
11 Other (please state in 5 words or less) 1………5
2. Settling in
In the first few weeks of the course … do we need to say how many weeks? 3
In discussions, I found the following interesting and satisfying …… by 'discussions' do you mean Moodle forums - or just anywhere? Sure, this needs a Moodle forums 'search and replace', unless you want to use the CCK08 format that was used elsewhere.
12 Exchange of views amongst peers in discussions 1…………5
13 Engaging with ‘loud voices’ 1………….5
14 Meeting people I knew previously 1 …………5
15 Meeting new people 1………5 (etc)
16 Formulating and thinking about my own tentative views
17 Clearly stating well thought through views and ideas
18 Getting feedback and critique from others
19 Developing a micro-community of inquiry / community of practice
20 Other (please state in 5 words or less) For someone as verbose as me I couldn't cope with just 5 words :-) The dicipline is good for you! This can be adjusted - 10 max! 'Discipline' Is that a word I'm supposed to understand? Whatever does it mean? :-)
In the first few weeks of the course … (how many weeks is a few weeks?) 3.0
In blogs linked to the course, I found the following interesting and satisfying ….
21 Formulating and thinking about my own tentative views 1………..5
22 Clearly stating well thought through views and ideas 1……….5
23 Developing my own ideas in my own space 1………….5 (etc)
24 Getting comment from others
25 Making my thoughts available to others
26 Developing a micro-community of inquiry / community of practice
27 Other (please state in 5 words or less) as above
3. En route Matthias - how does this fit with your findings from your concept mapping?
Once the course was up and running (from about week 2 or 3), I spent a lot of time and effort on the following aspects of the course: how much time is a lot of time?
21 The discussion forums started by other people 1…………..5 (etc)
22 Discussion forums that I started.
23 Reading the background material for that week of the course
24 Starting a blog inside the course
25 Keeping up my blog/s outside the course
26 Keeping up my wiki/s outside the course.
27 Participating in other wikis
28 Joining and participating in Facebook inside the course
29 In the 2nd life site of the course.
30 In other 2nd life sites
31 Other (please state in 5 words or less)
Please don't comment on 31-96 here but in Part 4 Grouping Draft 2 !
If I was spending substantially more time in blogs during this part of the course, this was because: so presumably people who didn't do this would skip this section? Which would help to make it a bit shorter.
31 There was less mutual respect between the CCK08 forum participants than between the CCK08 bloggers could we drop the CCK08?)
32 The CCK08 Moodle forum posts elicited stronger emotions than the CCK08 blog posts
33 Posting to the CCK08 Moodle forums generated greater feelings of anxiety than posting to a CCK08 blog
34 There was a greater sense of community between CCK08 bloggers than between forum participants CCK08
35 It was harder to form relationships that lasted beyond the end of the course in the CCK08 forums than it was in the CCK08 blogs I'm not sure that this one fits here
36 It's not very important for me that in forums, all the relevant aspects and ideas are collected in one place. I think this one needs rephrasing - but I'll need to come back to it
37 I don't want to be distracted by ever more links I'm not sure that this one fits here
38 When new aspects and ideas come up, I like to explore their source and author, and sometimes they resonate with me when I learn more about their background This statement may need splitting - it has two parts
39 The CCK08 forum discussions were less reflective than the CCK08 blog discussions
40 The CCK08 forum discussions were so fast that they prohibited reflection
41 The CCK08 discussion forums were more teacher-controlled than the CCK08 blogs
42 There are fewer opportunities for self- expression in forums
43 I was already familiar with blogging
44 There was more mutual respect between CCK08 bloggers than in the Moodle forums
45 I was less likely to be heavily criticised on my blog
46 I could avoid the ‘loud forum voices’
47 I felt less anxious when blogging than when posting to the Moodle forums
48 Blogging allowed me more control over my own learning
49 I could work at my own pace
50 I liked the ‘slowness’ of blogging
51 Blogging allowed me to have a voice on the CCK08 course
52 Writing for my blog gave me more pleasure than writing in the Moodle discussion forums
53 Blogging allowed me more personal space
54 I found it easier to understand the CCK08 blog posts than the Moodle forum posts
55 I didn’t feel I had anything to contribute to the Moodle forum discussions
56 I could not make my voice heard in the Moodle forum discussions
57 The CCk08 bloggers often provided summaries of the weekly topics and this helped my learning
58 I preferred the linear style of blogs Is this statement accurate?
59 I was able to make more meaningful connections with a greater number of people in the blogs
60 The quality of posts in the blogs was higher than in the forums
61 Blogs are more distributed, among different people and different opinions, and don’t tend to force consensus.
62 There is greater opportunity for self-assessment
63 There is more crafting of writing
64 There is a greater sense of freedom and autonomy Can freedom and autonomy be put together in one statement?
If I was spending substantially more time in discussion forums during this part of the course, this was because …
65 Posting to the forums required less effort than posting to a blog.
66 Posting to the forums enabled faster response and communication than a blog.
67 There was a greater sense of community between forum participants than between bloggers
68 Relationships between the CCK08 Moodle forum participants were stronger than between CCK08 bloggers
69 The CCK08 Moodle forum posts elicited stronger emotions than the CCK08 blog posts
70 Posting to the CCK09 Moodle forums generated greater feelings of excitement than posting to a CCK08 blog
71 It was easier to form relationships with other course participants in the CCK08 forums than in the CCK08 blogs
72 There was a greater sense of community between CCK08 forum participants than between CCK08 bloggers
73 I find it more convenient in forums that all the relevant aspects and ideas are collected in one place
74 I am excited when people bring lots of obviously related aspects to the table
75 I don't want to be distracted by ever more links
76 I am fascinated that forums discussions rapidly connect to more aspects would topics be a better word/ while the previous aspects are still lively present in mind (needs re-phrasing?)
77 When new aspects and ideas come up, I like to explore their source and author, and sometimes they resonate with me when I learn more about their background see comment above
78 Writing my forum posts gave me more pleasure than writing in blogs
79 I was already familiar with posting to discussion forums
80 Blogging requires more effort than I wanted to make
81 I enjoyed the fast pace of the Moodle forums
82 I enjoyed the challenging discussion that took place in the Moodle forums
83 There was more lively debate in the Moodle forums
84 I felt more of a sense of community in the Moodle forums
85 I had a greater number of readers in the Moodle forums than I would have had on a blog
86 I preferred the linear style of the Moodle forum discussions
87 I was able to connect with a greater number of people in the Moodle forums
88 There was more knowledge creation in the Moodle forums
89 The quality of posts in the Moodle forums was higher than on the blogs
90 It was easier to track back and locate information in the Moodle forums
91 I was able to establish a presence in the Moodle forums
92 I was able to make a greater contributions to the Moodle forums
93 Forums are more like a conversation
94 There is more sparring/challenge
95 There is less ‘navel gazing’ are there any cultural issues with this statement?
96 I don't want to be urged to follow the author through his linear assembly of digressions. will this statement be understood
Please don't comment on above 31-96 here but in Part 4 Grouping Draft 2 !
4. Absence
I didn’t contribute to the discussions or blogs during (approximately) the following weeks
97 Week 1 (with name of the week)
98 -108 etc
…
I also stopped reading the discussions or blogs during (approximately) the following weeks
109 Week 1 (with name of the week)
110 -121 etc
If I stopped contributing it was because …
I wanted or needed to do something else:
122 I had to attend to other priorities
123 I was bored
124 Other (please specify in less than 5 words)
I was fed up with (the space for interaction closed down) do we need this line - can it not just run on from the previous section - in which case some of the statements need slightly rephrasing
125 Too much noise (extraneous issues)
126 The power ‘game’ by the facilitator was infuriating
127 Rudeness on the part of other participants
128 The topic that week was not relevant to me
129 I wanted some quiet time, it was getting too hectic
130 I wanted to blog/ reflect in private
131 I couldn’t find a space for my views amongst the experts
132 Everything was happening too fast
133 Other (please specify in less than 5 words)
I wanted to continue what I was doing on the course, but in another setting or context by
134 Taking off on another track in a private email conversation with another participant or two
135 Taking of on similar issues, but in an ‘outside’ space/ forum/ wiki etc.
136 Other (please specify in less than 5 words)
I was happy to follow …
137 … the discussions and blogs that others were writing without participating myself
5. On reflection now, a few months after the course …
In discussions, I realise that I developed my capacity for …
138 Exchange of views amongst peers in discussions 1…………5 (etc)
139 Engaging with ‘loud voices’ 1………….5
140 Engaging with people I knew previously 1 …………5
141 Engaging with new people
142 Formulating and thinking about my own tentative views 1 ……..5
143 Clearly stating well thought through views and ideas 1……….5
144 Getting feedback and critique from others 1………5
145 Developing one or more micro-community of inquiry / community of practice
146 Providing a challenging-and-supportive space for a community of inquiry.
147 Exposing / challenging indefensible ideas.
148 Other (please state in 5 words or less)
And I found the following aspects of discussions most interesting and satisfying …… Are you saying that I now realise (a few months later, that I found the following aspects of forum discussions most interesting and satisfying
149 Exchange of views amongst peers in discussions 1…………5 (etc)
150 Engaging with ‘loud voices’ 1………….5
151 Engaging with people I knew previously 1 …………5
152 Engaging with new people
153 Formulating and thinking about my own tentative views 1 ……..5
154 Clearly stating well thought through views and ideas 1……….5
155 Getting feedback and critique from others 1………5
156 Developing one or more micro-community of inquiry / community of practice
157 Other (please state in 5 words or less)
In blogs linked to the course, I realise that I developed my capacity for …. comment as above
158 Formulating and thinking about my own tentative views 1………..5
159 Clearly stating well thought through views and ideas 1……….5
160 Developing my own ideas in my own space 1………….5 (etc)
161 Getting comment from others
162 Making my thoughts available to others
163 Developing one or more micro-community of inquiry / community of practice
164 Other (please state in 5 words or less)
And I found the following aspects of blogs most interesting and satisfying ……
165 Exchange of views amongst peers in discussions 1…………5
166 Engaging with ‘loud voices’ 1………….5
167 Engaging with people I knew previously 1 …………5
168 Engaging with new people 1……5
169 Formulating and thinking about my own tentative views 1 ……..5
170 Clearly stating well thought through views and ideas 1……….5
171 Getting feedback and critique from others 1………5
172 Developing one or more micro-community of inquiry / community of practice 1……..5
173 Other (please state in 5 words or less) 1………..5
6. Personal Style / Disposition I need time to come back to this. John can you explain how you came to your judgements about where bloggers and Moodlers fit?
[Activists statements (Bloggers mainly) (primary)]
174 I like to become involved in experiencing situations
175 I like new opportunities in learning
176 I like to maintain high profiles
177 I learn best when there is an element of risk in learning
178 I learn best when I could 'bounce off' and become energised by others (I would suggest that this is common in Blogger and Moodler)
Reflectors statements [(Bloggers (primary) and Rare Moodlers (secondary)]
179 I like to think things through
180 I like to listen, watch and gather data before committing myself to a decision or conclusion (mostly Blogger, could also be Moodler, if it is about discussion in a forum)
181 I tend to be cautious and conservative in the face of new knowledge and experience (mostly Blogger, could be first time Moodler))
182 I learn best when given time to think or mull things over (mostly Blogger, could be Moodler in discussion forum)
183 I learn best when I am given access to all available information to guide my decisions
184 I learn best when I am not pressured by deadlines or hasty decision-making processes
Theorists statements [(Bloggers (primary) and occasional Moodlers (secondary)]
185 I like to assimilate and synthesise new information
186 I like to fit new information into theories and explanation of how the world works
186 I learn best when I can use models and systems that make sense to me
187 I learn best when I can understand links and connections between facts and ideas
188 I learn best when I can explore links and connections between facts and ideas
189 I learn best when the subject matter is objective
190 I learn best when the subject matter is based on rational principles
Pragmatists statements [(Mainly Moodlers (primary) and some Bloggers (secondary) (educators, instruction designers, education practitioners))]
191 I am interested in ideas to see if they work
192 I think abstract ideas have little meaning for me
193 I like to solve practical problems
194 I want to put new knowledge to use (Bloggers and Moodlers)
195 I learn best when I can link ideas to real life situations (Bloggers, Moodlers and Lurkers)
196 I learn best when I can try out strategies (Bloggers)
197 I learn best when I can try out ideas
198 I learn best when I can deal with practical situations
Jenny, My judgements where about where Bloggers and Moodlers fit are base primarily on (a) my observations, (b) claims of bloggers being reflectors (most bloggers are claiming reflection - thinking aloud, critical thinking, rational thinking - based on reasons rather than passion etc.) and claims of moodlers being pragmatists as revealed by requests from participants on experience or proof or evidence of uses/application or case studies in connectivism) - may need to check on the number or percentage of such claims in the MOODLE forum. Various posts that relate to the uses of tools and discussions of practical applications are also further evidence. As there seems not to have any prior studies categorising the blogger/Moodler, those judgements were my speculation. We need to set up the hypothesis - as shown below to test them. 22/3/2009 John
I copied the above from The Complete Guide to Coaching at Work by Perry Zeus & Suzanne Skiffington 2003. By John.
These were based on the 4 identified learning styles: activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. I understand that it's very difficult to generalise even through this survey. My suggested assumptions (or the hypothesis) is that (a) most bloggers would be activists (putting theories into practice by setting up one's blog), reflectors (like to develop strategies/answers based on one's own thinking and reflecting about the problems or issues), theorists (like to assimilate and synthesise new information and fit into one's theories and explanation of how the world works). The above three learning styles (being activists, reflectors, and theorists) may also be adopted by Moodlers, but MAY BE to a lesser extent. Jenny, Matthias, and even Roy: Is it true that you are the ones that adopt those styles? Though Roy you mentioned that you have now switched to wiki - may be if you don't mind, I would like to learn the main reasons for such switching.
For Moodlers, they are more interested in ideas to see if they work. Ideas in the abstract have little meaning for them, Moodlers would like to clarify the ideas and concepts with MORE people, to ensure that such ideas are practical. They also want to put new knowledge to use. We are here functioning in a similar way of that of Moodlers (within this Research Team), though we don't mind considering abstract ideas in the brainstorming and initial research. We would like to tease out the questions and ensure that the research survey works (the practical use of any theory, or the scientific empirical research methodology). It is not confined to putting theory into practice, nor the reflection or thinking through, nor the fittting into theories, but the co-creation of "new or refined" model.
In summary, the above "findings" are based on my observations and experience, and the initial studies from research articles on learning styles. I could quote them here if you want me to, apart from that book. However, I don't think there are lots of research done that relate particularly on bloggers versus learning style, as it could be inconclusive due to the shifting "learning style" as one develops. So, my suggestions above could be an "ontology" (learning to be) study of the learning style.
Our research so far are based on (1) reflection of the CCK08 experience both individually and collectively, (2) re-examination and review of the principles of Connectivism, ANT (to certain degree by Roy), Learning Styles Model (Honey and Mumford basic Learning Styles) (Jenny, Matthias and me), and the various other learning theories and metaphors, (3) Concept Mapping developed by Matthias - conceptualised through findings from Forum and Blogs voices and collections, our research team's conversation and previous research (articles, blogs other than CCK08), and (4) continuing literature and action research - on reference list and current blog posts
I think the learning style could be a research topic by itself, and could be used to validate some of the hypothesis I suggest if a survey is done. Again, I don't mind if we are to drop out in this survey research.
I would, however, like to learn if the hypothesis set up could stand up to a critical analysis or not (proven or disproven in a survey or blog/Ning postings in discussion).
If the people are interested in developing a refined or new model in "Connectivism", I think they will be willing to participate in a "lengthy survey" rather than a short one. Also, we could drop the "over the phone" interview if our questionnaire is structered with both quantitative and qualitative sort of questions. We could use an email type of interview - i.e. asking more questions to further probe into the core questions - e.g. for all "others" reasons, we could ask for elaboration using examples in the follow up survey.
John 19/03/2009
Roy - many thanks for this - which I have enjoyed reading. I'm not sure what John or Matthias think - but I think this would work well. I would enjoy filling it in. Some thoughts:
1. There are a lot of statements. How long do you think this would take to complete? Would people be prepared to give the time? Actually I think it might not take as long as it appears, particularly since some sections won't be applicable to everyone.
So I would like to compare the load of questions with the weight of experiment apparatuses to be carried on a space capsule: every few gramms matter, and the scientists have to decide how many kilograms they can afford for each of their experiments.
For the intriguing longitudinal research project, I think the final weight is not yet estimable, because the current process model does not yet cover many of the factors that might skew the forums vs. blog balance to either side depending on the more precise delimitation of the questions.
(This may sound as a DEsctructive critique, but rather it should be understood as a CONstructive continuation of our discussion about HOW much ambition our project can afford, and also constructive for a potential branched second project.)
First, the two sections of 4 "Absence", after 125, seems to focus on those who totally stopped forum participation. People who stopped blogging would probably find no response to agree with, and an even more complicated but observable case is not yet covered, at all: People who did not quit but fell behind and opted to work on their own on the topics of previous weeks.
Next, in chapter 5, only reflections AFTER a long time are addressed (as Jenny observed in her comment above 149). Either we would have to include yet more question variations for the "en route" reflection and perhaps for the immediate after reflection, or we are again in danger to skew the outcome towards a certain one of the reflective type.
In chapter 1 and 3, questions like 1/2 and 21/22 about who started the forums disussions, would need to consider the special role of the discussions started by the facilitators. I think the difference between these and others is larger than between replying to a thread whose ancester posting was written by the respondent or replying to someone else's. I think some people regarded George's initial opening questions as something similarly obliging as the background material of questions 3 and 23.
Similarly, if we want to track the actual behavior details rather than more generally distinguish blogs vs. forums, we also need to consider finer distinctions of the various greyscale zones, such as blog posts copied to the forums or vice-versa, posts that were cross-linked from blogs to forums or vice-versa, the special role of the links in the facilitators' Daily, or the special role of time spent with reading the long blog posts that carried the three assignment essays.
In question 137 ("happy to follow [others'] discussions AND blogs") we would need to distinguish between these two (as they are our study objects), and additionally consider those who were just reading the Daily via email (and this is the greatest Unknown where we have no idea if these were almost all of the 2200 registered people, or just a handful of wackos who did not find the send button).
If we want to do the longitudinal process study thouroughly we need to address many more such complexities, and I would plead that this should be a separate step. Also, if it is not a quantitaive study (Jenny's question 2. below) that aims at validating a given hypothesis, there would probably be no need to keep the question ideas secret for such a long time, either.
Here are the options I could conceive:John 18/3/2009
2. Are you seeing this as a quantitative study or were you thinking of following this up with interviews? There would be such a lot of data from this if a good number of people responded. Would we still need to interview? What are your thoughts on how the results could be analysed?
3. If we are all agreed to go with this - then I think we need to do the following:
A note on terminology: "Discussion" instead of Forums suggests that the exchange on blogs does not have traits of a discussion. "Discussion forums" (21 ff): the hierarchy is moodle platform > course > forum > discussion (thread in the wider sense) > [subthread > ] posting; I don't see how the affordances view can change this technical basic concepts. And the use of the term "connectivist" in a sense totally different than the coiners meant it, is very confusing. There was already a connectivist intention of this project in the original sense of the term (e. g. considering the connections among people and among concepts, not only among people and between people and concepts).
And a note on the technical organisation of our texts: The quickest way to run into struggles with technology is too rapidly copying and pasting rather than cutting and pasting, or moving the text snippets elsewhere that are currently edited. We should separate content-related controversies from text-organising collaboration, because diverging text variants are very hard to reconcile.