Online help-seeking in communities of practice

Nistor, Nicolae; Schworm, Silke und Werner, Matthias (2012): Online help-seeking in communities of practice. Modeling the acceptance of conceptual artifacts. In: Computers & Education, Bd. 59, Nr. 2: S. 774-784

Abstract

Interactive online help systems are considered to be a fruitful supplement to traditional IT helpdesks, which are often overloaded. They often comprise user-generated FAQ collections playing the role of technology-based conceptual artifacts. Two main questions arise: how the conceptual artifacts should be used, and which factors influence their acceptance in a community of practice (CoP). Firstly, this paper offers a theoretical frame and a usage scenario for technology-based conceptual artifacts against the theoretical background of the academic help-seeking and CoP approach. Each of the two approaches is extensively covered by psychological and educational research literature, however their combination is not yet sufficiently investigated. Secondly, the paper proposes a research model explaining the acceptance of conceptual artifacts. The model includes users’ expectations towards the artifact, perceived social influence and users’ roles in the CoP as predictors of artifact use intention and actual usage. A correlational study conducted in an academic software users’ CoP and involving structural equations modeling validates the model, suggesting thus a research line that is worth further pursuing. For educational practice, the study suggests three ways of supporting knowledge sharing in CoPs, i.e. use of technology-based conceptual artifacts, roles and division of labor, and purposeful communication in CoPs.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Publikationsform: Postprint
• Keywords: adult learning; architectures for educational technology system; cooperative/collaborative learning; learning communities; lifelong learning
• Fakultät: Psychologie und Pädagogik > Department Psychologie > Empirische Pädagogik und Pädagogische Psychologie
• Themengebiete: 100 Philosophie und Psychologie > 150 Psychologie ; 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 370 Bildung und Erziehung
• ISSN: 0360-1315
• Sprache: Englisch

Literaturliste

Ainsworth, S. E. (2006). DeFT: A conceptual framework for considering learning with multiple representations. Learning and Instruction, 16, 183-198.

Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (2000). Attitudes and the attitude-behaviour relation: Reasoned and automatic processes. European Review of Social Psychology, 11 (1), 1-33.

Aleven, V., Stahl, E., Schworm, S., Fischer, F., & Wallace, R. (2003). Help seeking and help design in interactive learning environments. Review of Educational Research, 73 (3), 277-320.

Bagozzi, R. P. (2007). The legacy of the Technology Acceptance Model and a proposal for a paradigm shift. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 4 (3), 244-254.

Bereiter, C. (2002). Education and mind in the knowledge age. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Bodemer, D., Ploetzner, R. & Feuerlein, I. (2004). The active integration of information during learning with dynamic and interactive visualisations. Learning and Instruction, 14 (3), 325–341.

Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: Guilford Press.

Carroll, J. M. (1990). The Nurnberg funnel. Designing minimalist instruction for practical computer skill. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Chen, I. Y. L., Chen, N.-S. & Kinshuk (2009). Examining the factors influencing participants’ knowledge sharing behavior in virtual learning communities. Educational Technology & Society, 12 (1), 134-148.

Collins, A. (2006). Cognitive apprenticeship. In R. Keith Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 47-60). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1989). Cognitive apprenticeship: Teaching the crafts of reading, writing and mathematics. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, Learning and instruction. Essays in the honour of Robert Glaser (pp. 453-494). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Conklin, J. (1987). Hypertext: An introduction and survey. Computer, 20 (9), 17-41.

Engeström, Y. & Sannino, A. (2010). Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings and future challenges. Educational Research Review, 5 (1), 1-24.

Fuller, A., Unwin, L., Felstead, A., Jewson, N. & Kakavelakis, K. (2007). Creating and using knowledge: An analysis of the differentiated nature of workplace learning environments. British Educational Research Journal, 33 (5), 743-759.

Govindarajulu, C. (2002). The status of helpdesk support. Communications of the ACM, 45 (1), 97-100.

Groth, K. (2004). On knowing who knows. An alternative approach to knowledge management. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Stockholm: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Online available at http://www.nada.kth.se/~kicki/Thesis.pdf (last download: March 9, 2012)

Handley, K., Sturdy, A., Fincham, R. & Clark, T. (2006). Within and beyond communities of practice: Making sense of learning through participation, identity and practice. Journal of Management Studies, 43 (3), 641-653.

Heckner, M., Schworm, S., & Wolff, C. (2010). Combining design patterns and elements of social computing for the design of user centered online help systems. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 38 (1), 3-20.

Johnson, C. M. (2001). A survey of current research on online communities of practice. Internet and Higher Education, 4 (1), 45–60.

Karabenick, S. A., & Newman, R. S. (2006). Help seeking in academic settings: Goals, groups, and contexts. Mahwah: Erlbaum.

Kienle, A., & Wessner, M. (2006). Analyzing and cultivating scientific communities of practice. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2 (4), 377-393.

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: University Press.

Lee, G. K., & Cole, R. E. (2003). From a firm-based to a community-based model of knowledge creation: The case of the Linux kernel development. Organization Science, 14 (6), 633–649.

Leung, N. K. Y. & Lau, S. K. (2007). Information technology help desk survey: To identify the classification of simple and routine enquiries. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 47 (4), 70-81.

Mäkitalo-Siegl, K., & Fischer, F. (2011). Stretching the limits in help-seeking research: Theoretical, methodological, and technological advances. Learning and Instruction, 21 (2), 243-246.

Mayer, R. E. (2005). Cognitive theory of multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning (pp. 31-48). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Mercier, J., & Frederiksen, C. H. (2007). Individual differences in graduate students' help-seeking process in using a computer coach in problem-based learning. Learning and Instruction, 17 (2), 184-203.

Niesz, T. (2010). Chasms and bridges: Generativity in the space between educators’ communities of practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26 (1), 37-44.

Nistor, N. (2010). Knowledge communities in the classroom of the future. In K. Mäkitalo-Siegl, F. Kaplan, J. Zottmann. & F. Fischer (Eds.). Classroom of the future. Orchestrating collaborative spaces (pp. 163-180). Rotterdam: Sense.

Nistor, N., Rubner, A. & Mahr, T. (2007). Effiziente Entwicklung von E-Content mit hohem Individualisierungsgrad: Ein Community-basiertes Modell. In M. Merkt, K. Mayrberger, R. Schulmeister, A. Sommer & I. van den Berk (Hrsg.), Studieren neu erfinden – Hochschule neu entdecken (S. 54-64). Münster: Waxmann.

Nückles, M., Ertelt, A., Wittwer, J., & Renkl, A. (2007). Scripting laypersons’ problem descriptions in internet-based communication with experts. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 6 (1), 73-89.

Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2004). Models of innovative knowledge communities and three metaphors of learning. Review of Educational Research, 74 (4), 557-576.

Puustinen, M. & Rouet, J. F. (2009). Learning with new technologies: Help seeking and information searching revisited. Computers & Education, 53 (4), 1014-1019.

Pynoo, B., Tondeur, J., Braak, J., Duyck, W., Sijnave, B. & Duyck, P. (2012). Teachers’ acceptance and use of an educational portal. Computers & Education, 58 (4), 1308-1307.

Renkl, A. (2002). Learning from worked-out examples: Instructional explanations supplement self-explanations. Learning and Instruction, 12 (5), 529-556.

Schnotz, W., & Bannert, M. (2003). Construction and interference in learning from multiple representations. Learning and Instruction, 13 (2), 141-156.

Schwamborn, A., Thillmann, H., Opfermann, M. & Leutner, D. (2011). Cognitive load and instructionally supported learning with provided and learner-generated visualizations. Computers in Human Behavior, 27 (1), 89–93.

Schworm, S. & Heckner, M. (2010). E-collaborative help-seeking using social web features. In B. Ertl (Ed.), E-collaborative knowledge construction: Learning from computer-supported and virtual environments (pp. 109-123). Hershey: IGI-Global.

Sim, J. W. S. & Hew, K. F. (2010). The use of weblogs in higher education settings: A review of empirical research. Educational Research Review, 5 (2), 151-163.

Sweller, J., Merrienboer, J. J. G., & Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educational Psychology Review, 10 (3), 251-296.

Sykes, T. A., Venkatesh, V. & Gosain, S. (2009). Model of acceptance with peer support: A social network perspective to understand employees’ system use. MIS Quarterly, 33 (2), 371-393.

Thompson, T. L., & MacDonald, C. J. (2005). Community building, emergent design and expecting the unexpected: Creating a quality eLearning experience. The Internet and Higher Education, 8 (3), 233-249.

Tidwell, J. (2006). Designing interfaces. Sebastopol: O'Reilly.

van Velsen, L. S., Steehouder, M. F. & de Jong, M. D. T. (2007). Evaluation of user support: Factors that affect user satisfaction with helpdesks and helplines. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 50 (3), 219-231.

Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B. & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27 (3), 425-478.

Venkatesh, V., Thong, J. Y. L. & Xu, X. (2012). Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: Extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. MIS Quarterly, 36 (1), 157-178.

Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, UK: University Press.

Winston, E. R., Medlin, B. D. & Romaniello, B. A. (2012). An e-patient’s end-user community (EUCY): The value added of social network applications. Computers in Human Behavior, 28 (3), 951-957.

Yang, H.-L. & Lai, C.-Y. (2011). Understanding knowledge-sharing behavior in Wikipedia. Behaviour & Information Technology, 30 (1), 131-142.

Zenios, M. (2011). Epistemic activities and collaborative learning: towards an analytical model for studying knowledge construction in networked learning settings. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27 (3), 259-268.