Motivation can be identified as a dimension that determines learning success and causes the high dropout rate among online learners, especially in complex e-learning environments. It is argued that these learning environments represent a new challenge to cognitive load researchers to investigate the motivational effects of instructional conditions and help instructional designers to predict which instructional configurations will maximize learning and transfer. Consistent with the efficiency perspective introduced by Paas and Van Merriënboer (1993), an alternative motivational perspective of the relation between mental effort and performance is presented. We propose a procedure to compute and visualize the differential effects of instructional conditions on learner motivation and illustrate this procedure on the basis of an existing data set. Theoretical and practical implications of the motivational perspective are discussed.
Some scholars argue that students do not achieve higher level learning, or cognitive presence, in online courses. Online discussion has been proposed to bridge this gap between online and face-to-face learning environments. However, the literature indicates that the conventional approach to online discussion -asking probing questions -does not necessarily advance the discussion through the phases of cognitive presence: triggering events, exploration, integration and resolution, which are crucial for deep knowledge construction. Using mixed methods, we examined the contribution of four scenario-based online discussion strategies -structured, scaffolded, debate and role play -to the learners' cognitive presence, the outcome of the discussion. Learners' discussion postings within each strategy were segmented and categorized according to the four phases. The discussion strategies, each using the same authentic scenario, were then compared in terms of the number of segments representing these phases. We found that the structured strategy, while highly associated with triggering events, produced no discussion pertaining to the resolution phase. The scaffolded strategy, on the other hand, showed a strong association with the resolution phase. The debate and role-play strategies were highly associated with exploration and integration phases. We concluded that discussion strategies requiring learners to take a perspective in an authentic scenario facilitate cognitive presence, and thus critical thinking and higher levels of learning. We suggest a heuristic for sequencing a series of discussion forums and recommend areas for further related research.
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