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To blog or not to blog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in an undergraduate course

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Blogs have the potential to increase reflection, sense of community and collaboration in undergraduate classrooms. Studies of their effectiveness are still limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of blogs in a large lecture class would enhance students' perceived learning. Students in an undergraduate nutrition course were required to engage in blog conversations over the course of the semester to promote reflective learning. Sixty-seven undergraduates responded to a survey with dimensions on perceived learning and sense of community. Sense of community and computer expertise were identified as significant predictors of perceived learning, when controlled for age, gender, and previous blogging experience. While a majority of the students reported that blogging enhanced their learning and led them to think about course concepts outside the classroom, fewer perceived value in peer comments. Implications for integrating blogging into undergraduate classrooms are discussed.
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To blog or not to blog: Student perceptions of blog effectiveness for learning in a
college-level course
Olivia Halic
a,
, Debra Lee
a
, Trena Paulus
a
, Marsha Spence
b
a
The University of Tennessee, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, 525 Jane & David Bailey Education Complex,
1122 Volunteer Boulevard, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996, USA
b
The University of Tennessee, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Department of Nutrition, 229 Jessie Harris Building, 1215 W. Cumberland Ave., Knoxville, Tennessee,
37996, USA
abstractarticle info
Keywords:
Blogs (web-logs)
Sense of community
Collaborative constructivism
Community of inquiry
Perceived learning
Survey design
Undergraduate teaching
Higher education
Technology
Blogs have the potential to increase reection, sense of community and collaboration in undergraduate
classrooms. Studies of their effectiveness are still limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate
whether the use of blogs in a large lecture class would enhance students' perceived learning. Students in an
undergraduate nutrition course were required to engage in blog conversations over the course of the
semester to promote reective learning. Sixty-seven undergraduates responded to a survey with dimensions
on perceived learning and sense of community. Sense of community and computer expertise were identied
as signicant predictors of perceived learning, when controlled for age, gender, and previous blogging
experience. While a majority of the students reported that blogging enhanced their learning and led them to
think about course concepts outside the classroom, fewer perceived value in peer comments. Implications for
integrating blogging into undergraduate classrooms are discussed.
© 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In recent years, blogs (web-logs) have become a familiar tool for
57 million Americans (39% of Internet users) who read blogs and
12 million Americans (8% of Internet users) who maintain a blog
(Lenhart & Fox, 2006). According to the same Pew Internet &
American Life Project report (Lenhart & Fox), more than half (54%)
of the American bloggers are under the age of 30, compared to 24% of
all Internet users who are under 30. The popularity of blogs among
young people has made them appealing to educators seeking to
integrate computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools at the
university level. These tools are seen as having the potential for
enhancing student engagement and providing an environment for
collaboration and creation of knowledge (Lenhart & Fox). Course
management systems (e.g., Blackboard, Moodle) often include a blog
component, which facilitates the integration of blogs into teaching
and learning. However, educational applications of blogs have
preceded research on their effectiveness. Although embraced by
educators for their potential to support student interactivity and
collaboration (Godwin-Jones, 2006), blogs remain the object of
inconclusive and even contradictory research in education (Kim,
2008). Moreover, research that systematically investigates the need
for blogs in education and their advantages as educational tools is
quite limited (Sharma & Xie, 2008; Paulus, Payne, & Jahns, 2009).
Essentially a form of personal publishing (Downes, 2004), the blog
is a text-based online environment which allows for embedding links
to other online resources, and in which the author's posts appear in
reverse chronological order. This feature is important in distinguish-
ing blogs from other web-based publishing environments such as web
pages (Viegas, 2006). Whereas web pages update by substituting old
materials with the new ones, blogs preserve old posts in addition to
new entries. This permanent archive of the blog activity creates
context for the readers who can refer back to earlier entries (Viegas).
Most blogs enable feedback from the audience by means of comments
subsequent to the main entry. This interactive feature is fundamental
when thinking of blogs as social, and not only textual practiceand
when approaching them from a network orientation, rather than
simply a writing orientation(Burgess, 2006, pp. 109110).
From a teaching and learning perspective, blogs have the
capability to make student learning transparent and become a space
where a greater understanding of student meaning making can be
gained(Paulus, Payne, et al., 2009, p. 13). Paulus et al. highlighted
three ways in which blog conversations can help instructors better
contextualize instruction(p. 13). Through reading the blogs,
teachers better understand their students' struggles with the course
materials and design ways to help students overcome barriers to
learning. Second, instructors are able to see what students refer to as
Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 206213
Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1 865 974 5295 (Ofce); fax: + 1 865 974 1428.
E-mail addresses: ohalic@utk.edu (O. Halic), dlee41@utk.edu (D. Lee),
tpaulus@utk.edu (T. Paulus), mspence@utk.edu (M. Spence).
1096-7516/$ see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.04.001
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Internet and Higher Education
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expert knowledge. Finally, questions that were not answered in class
or through course materials nd their way onto blogs. In other words,
the blog's archive is readily accessible to instructors as a source of
information about student learning, providing a basis for ongoing
feedback and redesign of learning activities.
The goal of this study was to examine student perceptions of blog
use in the context of a large undergraduate lecture class. With this
paper, we intend to contribute to the literature on the effectiveness of
blogs for university student learning by identifying educational
contexts in which blogs work. We argue that fostering a sense of
community among learners by means of blog-based conversations
affects students' levels of perceived learning.
2. Literature review and theoretical frameworks
2.1. Blogs in higher education
Blogs are being increasingly used in higher education. Leslie and
Murphy (2008), in a literature summary prior to their blogging study,
identied two main assumptions underlying blog research and
practice in higher education. First, the general assumption that
blogs can facilitate peer and group interaction permeates research
in this area. The second major assumption involves social construction
of knowledge, which happens by means of sharing knowledge,
asserting different perspectives and interpretations, and critiquing
viewpoints (Leslie & Murphy). These theoretical assumptions are yet
to be supported by empirical ndings.
Prior research has identied the potential of blogs to enhance
student learning (Churchill, 2009; Ducate & Lomicka, 2008; Ellison &
Wu, 2008; Shim & Guo, 2009; Xie, Ke, & Sharma, 2008). For example,
blogging has been shown to contribute to perceived learning for a
majority of students in a variety of contexts (Churchill, 2009; Ducate &
Lomicka, 2008). However, mixed results regarding the impact of peer
blog commenting on students' perceived learning have been noted.
Ducate and Lomicka (2008) found that having an audience motivated
students to be more accountable in completing their foreign language
writing tasks. Other studies, however, have shown that students did
not consider peer comments valuable for their learning (Ellison & Wu,
2008). Instead, reading other students' blogs was found signicantly
more helpful than reading comments on one's own blog (Ellison &
Wu). Similarly, examining the effect of blog activity on students'
reective thinking, Xie et al. (2008) found that peer feedback did not
provide the expected support for learning. The participants who
provided or received feedback registered consistently lower levels of
reection than those who blogged without feedback. However, they
reported positive ndings related to the effect of time on student level
of reection: as time elapsed, the reective thinking scores of students
who continued blogging, with or without feedback, increased (Xie
et al.).
2.2. Perceived learning
The use of perceived learning as an investigative tool began with a
study of immediacy and perceived cognitive learning (Richmond,
Gorham, & McCroskey, 1987). Richmond et al. (1987) turned to
perceived learning because no suitable measures of actual learning
were available. They considered students' perceived learning as an
adequate alternative to standardized tests and course grades for
college students. In their words, college students are adults with
considerable experience in a school environment. We believe it is
reasonable to expect them to estimate with considerable accuracy the
amount they learn in a given class(p. 581).
The examination of perceived learning continues to be of interest
to researchers (Caspi & Blau, 2008; Goldman, Cohen, & Sheahan, 2008;
So & Brush, 2008). Caspi and Blau (2008) investigated the impact of
three variations of social presence on perceived learning in discussion
forums in blended courses. In their study, when a student logged more
often into a course discussion group and posted more messages, the
student had a higher level of perceived learning. A less signicant,
though still notable, nding was that group identication also led to
perceived learning. So and Brush (2008) found that collaboration,
which can be seen similar to self-projection and group identication
of the Caspi and Blau study, was a factor in their study of perceived
learning through blogging in a blended health education course.
Students who perceived high levels of collaboration reported higher
levels of perceived learning. In a study of a graduate level
environmental health class, Goldman et al. (2008) investigated the
use of blogs on perceived learning. About half of the students in the
study acknowledged that blogging enhanced their learning of the
course material; whereas, more reported that blogging substantially
helped their understanding of other environmental health issues.
Although the use of perceived learning as a measure of cognitive
learning has its detractors (King & Witt, 2009), we chose to use
perceived learning in this study as a viable construct with reliable
survey instruments.
2.3. Sense of community
Sense of community, a construct similar to sense of belonging and
connectedness, presupposes bonds between individuals within the
frame of a group built on principles of community. Perceptions of
acceptance, care, appreciation, and respect are included in many
operational denitions of the sense of community (e.g., Battistich,
Solomon, Kim, Watson, & Schaps, 1995; Willms, 2000; Yasuda, 2009).
Perhaps one of the most inuential denitions of sense of community
is the one advanced by McMillan and Chavis (1986):a feeling that
members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith
that members' needs will be meet through their commitment to be
together(p.9). McMillan and Chavis highlighted four theoretical
components of sense of community. Membership relies on personal
investment of the person into the group and consists in belonging or
feeling part of the group. Inuence means mutual determination of the
individual and the group, while integration and fulllment of needs
refers to the rewards that an individual received in exchange for
membership (e.g., expertise and status). Finally, shared emotional
connection is basedon a shared history(McMillan & Chavis, p.13)
and refers to the frequency and quality of interactions, the nature of
investment, the gravity of the shared events, and the spirituality of the
connection. Earlier, Sarason (1974) developed another inuential
denition, according to which the sense of community is the
perception of similarity to others, an acknowledged interdependence
with others, a willingness to maintain this interdependence by giving
to or doing for others what one expects for them, the feeling that one
is part of a larger dependable and stable structure(p.157).
Guided by these two denitions and examining published work in
the higher education and K-12 arenas, we identied two key concepts
related to sense of community: interdependence and supportive
interpersonal relationships. We argue that interdependence(Sar-
ason, 1974) accommodates two simultaneous directions of inuence.
First, the group accepts, values, respects, cares for the individual, and
creates opportunities for participation in its decision-making and
goal-setting activities. This way, the individual's needs are met and
membership is reinforced by rewards such as competence and status
(McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Second, by investing time, energy, money,
intimacy (McMillan & Chavis) and such into the group, the individual
becomes committed to its values and identies with the group and as
a consequence of this personal investment, membership will be more
meaningful and valuable(McMillan & Chavis, p.10).
The second key construct, supportive interpersonal relationships,
appears as a prerequisite of sense of community in many studies (e.g.,
Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Battistich et al., 1995; Nichols, 2008;
Solomon, Watson, Battistich, Schaps, & Delucchi, 1996). Baumeister
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and Leary (1995) argued that the need for belonging is fullled
through frequent and positive interactions, built within a frame of
stable, caring, and lasting interpersonal relationships. The Child
Development Project, an intervention designed to transform schools
into caring communitiesin several school districts across the
country, considered supportive relationships as a core component of
the sense of community (Battistich et al., 1995; Solomon, Watson,
Battistich, Schaps, & Delucchi, 1992). In a mixed-method study of
belongingness beliefs of Hispanic students in a predominantly
Hispanic middle school, Nichols (2008) found that students attributed
belonging to their relationships with teachers and peers. Both
interpersonal and academic relationships contributed to students'
sense of belonging. For example, the teacher and staff support for
students to do well academically enhanced their sense of belonging to
school (Nichols).
2.4. Collaborative constructivism
Collaborative constructivism moves sense of belonging into online
and blended environments. Garrison and Akyol (2009) pointed out
that collaboration through use of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, goes
beyond simple interaction in the sense that it is clearly focused on a
problem or dilemma where students are deeply engaged in
purposeful discourse to construct meaning and collaboratively share
meaning and validate understanding(p. 23). For Garrison and Akyol,
such collaboration is difcult, if not impossible, in large lecture classes.
To achieve meaningful learning experiences, Garrison and Akyol
relied on the Community of Inquiry framework developed by
Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000). This framework posits that
three presences are required for learning to take place in online
environments: cognitive, social and teaching. The integration of all
three presences is required before meaningful learning can occur
(Garrison et al., 2000; Garrison & Akyol, 2009).
A basic understanding of the three presences is necessary to
explain how blogging can lead to collaborative construction of
meaning when associated with a large lecture classroom. Garrison
et al. (2000) dened cognitive presence as sustained communication
between members of a community that leads to meaning making.
Social presence is dened as the ability of participants to connect
within a community in a trusting environment and to form personal
relationships with other community members (Garrison & Akyol,
2009). Social presence is essential for the development of cognitive
presence, which in turn, is inuenced by teaching presence. Teaching
presence includes three areas: design, facilitation, and direct
instruction (Garrison & Akyol). The last area, direct instruction, does
not refer to transmission and acquisition of knowledge but to the
appropriate facilitation of discussion and reection. The intersection
of all three presences, as components of the Community of Inquiry
framework, is necessary for learners to reach levels of critical thinking
that lead to learning.
Both sense of community and collaborative constructivism are
complex constructs which capitalize on the interdependence between
the individual and the group, as well as on supportive relationships
emergent within the group, between its members. Blogging provides
a means for students to connect in smaller groups to overcome the
anonymity of a large lecture hall, working together to create a
community of learners.
In summary, empirical evidence suggests that, in general, college
students have a favorable attitude towards the integration of blogs
into learning. However, most of the reviewed studies showed that
students preferred reading peers' blogs over writing their own blog
entries for learning purposes. Moreover, what is known about
students' understanding of the value of peer feedback is still limited.
Since writing posts and commenting on others' posts are the essential
features of blogs' integration in education, we need to know more
about students' understanding of the role of blogs in their learning.
Recording students' perceptions can produce valuable information
about their expectations and needs when using blogs. While the
research to date has revealed some of the features of blogs that work
in higher education, additional research is needed about which blog
features could be coupled with which instructional strategies to yield
positive learning outcomes for students.
3. Purpose of the study
This survey study explored student perceptions of blog effective-
ness to support learning in the context of a large undergraduate
lecture class. Three research questions guided our analysis:
1. How do students perceive learning as facilitated by blog-supported
discussions?
2. What student variables impact perceived learning?
3. Does sense of community predict learning as perceived by the
students?
4. Method
4.1. Background
We chose a survey research design to investigate student
perceptions of and experiences with blog integration in an under-
graduate class in nutrition at a research university in the Southeast.
The course consisted of two 50-min, instructor-led lecture sessions
and once weekly smaller (no more than 25 students) 50-min graduate
teaching assistant-led discussion sessions. In spring 2009, students
(n=163) in this course were assigned to engage in blog conversa-
tions related to nutrition concepts covered in the class. Each student
was required to submit one post and one comment per week for nine
weeks on a blog shared within each discussion group. The blog group
size ranged from 7 to 14 students.
The assumption underlying the blogging task design was that
learning occurs by means of reection and engagement, enabled by
the asynchronous nature of the blogs. The blog's affordance for
displaying posts and comments in the same place made the tool
preferable to a discussion forum. The instructor provided multimedia
materials on current events in nutrition as conversation starters with
the intention of improving students' application of nutrition science
concepts through reection and interaction. The graduate teaching
assistants acted as blog facilitators, reading posts and answering
questions.
4.2. Participants
The participants in this study were undergraduate students
(n=67), 59 females and eight males (see Table 1). The gender
distribution of this sample was slightly different, but comparable, to
the distribution of the overall student population in this nutrition
Table 1
Characteristics of participants.
Number Percentage
Gender
Female 59 88%
Male 8 12%
Level of study
Freshman 23 34%
Sophomore 38 57%
Junior 4 6%
Senior 2 3%
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class (73% women and 27% men). The participants' ages ranged from
18 to 28 years (M= 19.58; SD = 1.42). Most of the participants were
sophomores (n=38) and freshmen (n=23). Participants' majors
were in 23 different program areas. Most of the participants were
pursuing a Bachelor's degree in nursing (n= 23), exercise science
(n=9), or nutrition (n= 5).
4.3. Instrument
No single previously validated survey was available that addressed
college students' perceptions of learning and sense of community
within a course that blended face-to-face traditional lectures and
online discussions facilitated by blogs. However, survey instruments
were separately available for the two constructs (Caspi & Blau, 2008;
Churchill, 2009; Lin, Lin, & Laffey, 2008; Picciano, 2002; Richardson &
Swan, 2003; Shim & Guo, 2009; So & Brush, 2008). Using those
surveys as a basis, we developed a survey instrument to test perceived
learning and sense of community in a blogging environment (see
Appendix). Review of the literature in the area of blended and online
learning and sense of community informed the development of the
survey. We established validity of the instrument by performing
factor analysis, described further in subsequent sections of this paper.
The instrument included two dimensions, Perceived Learning (PL)
and Sense of Community (SC). The Perceived Learning dimension
included seven items to record student perceptions of learning as
facilitated by the blogs. The Sense of Community dimension included
six items to identify attitudes related to community building via blogs.
Each item was rated on a ve-point Likert-type scale: strongly agree,
agree,neutral,disagree, and strongly disagree. The remainder of the
items recorded demographic data (i.e., age, gender, and class level)
and self-reported technology knowledge, such as familiarity with
computers and previous experience with blogs or other technology
tools.
4.4. Procedure
The survey was administered online through the open-source
application LimeSurvey. Responses were anonymous. Data collection
occurred during a two-week period prior to the end of the semester.
An invitation email with a link to the survey was sent to the instructor
who forwarded the email to all the blogging students (n=163) in this
course. A reminder email was sent out three days later. To encourage
participation, the respondents were invited to enter in a drawing for
two $25 gift certicates to a local retailer. No course credit was given
for completing the survey. The drawing was conducted approximately
a week following the second reminder email. The survey yielded a
response rate of 43%.
4.5. Data analysis
To address our research questions, we performed factor analysis,
reliability analysis, a ttest, a series of ANOVAs, and multiple
regression analysis using SPSS 18.0. Factor analysis (principal axis
factoring extraction with varimax rotation) was used to examine the
underlying factor structure of the initial pool of 15 items. A series of
two-way ANOVAs was conducted to examine the effects of several
variables on perceived student learning. The dependent variable,
perceived learning, was obtained by computing the mean score of the
Perceived Learning items for each participant (see Appendix). The
rst ANOVA investigated the effect of gender and age on perceived
learning. The second ANOVA examined the impact of previous
experience with blogs and computer expertise on perceived learning.
Using an independent-measures ttest, we examined the mean
difference in perceived learning between students with a high sense
of community and students with a low sense of community. Scores of
sense of community were obtained by computing the mean score of
the survey items pertaining to this dimension. Based on the sense of
community score, the sample was divided into two groups: low sense
of community (values of 3 and lower) and high sense of community
(values of 4 and higher).
A linear multiple regression analysis was also performed to
determine whether student sense of community predicted their
perceived learning. Other independent variables of interest were
previous experience with blogs, self-reported computer expertise at
the beginning of the course, and age.
5. Results
5.1. Factor analysis
Before performing factor analysis, we computed the Kaiser
MeyerOlkin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO), which was
0.87 suggesting the absence of multicollinearity (Hinton, Brownlow,
McMurray, & Cozens, 2004). In addition, the Bartlett's test of
sphericity produced an approximate chi-square of 568.74, pb0.001,
indicating that the correlation matrix was not an identity matrix.
These two tests provided evidence that factor analysis is appropriate
for this dataset. Preliminary principal axis factoring extraction with
varimax rotation was used to determine the number of factors with
eigenvalues greater than 1.0. Although three eigenvalues were greater
than 1.0, based on the examination of the scree plot and considering
interpretability, we decided to retain two factors (Tabachnick & Fidell,
2007). We omitted two survey items that did not produce salient
loadings on the interpretable factors based on a cutoff loading of 0.45
(Tabachnick & Fidell).
Next, conrmatory factor analysis with principal axis factoring
extraction and varimax rotation was performed on the remaining
items by extracting two factors. The analysis yielded two eigenvalues
larger than unity, which conrmed that a two-factor solution is
reasonable. The two factors that we labeled Perceived Learning (PL)
and Sense of Community (SC) accounted for 61.85% of the total
variance. Loadings of variables on factors, communalities, eigenvalues,
and percents of variance are presented in Table 2. Loadings smaller
than 0.45 were replaced by zeros. Finally, to verify the degree of factor
saturation we used exploratory factor analysis (principal axis
factoring extraction and varimax rotation) separately for each
dimension of the instrument (Briggs & Cheek, 1986). The results
produced a one-factor solution for each subset of items providing
support for the unidimensionality of each dimension.
5.2. Reliability
An internal consistency estimate of reliability was calculated
separately for the two dimensions of the survey. Cronbach's alpha for
the Perceived Learning dimension was 0.874, while the Sense of
Community dimension yielded a similar reliability estimate,
α=0.865. Both values indicate good to excellent reliability (George
& Mallery, 2003; Lounsbury, Gibson, & Saudargas, 2005).
In answer to the rst research question (How do students perceive
learning as facilitated by blog-supported discussions?), descriptive
statistics revealed that 55% of the participants reported that blogs
enhanced their overall learning. Moreover, 66% of students expressed
positive attitudes regarding the potential of blogging to enhance their
learning. For 76% of the respondents blog discussions stimulated
thinking about course-related concepts outside of class. Blogs also
facilitated understanding of other points of view and sharing
knowledge with peers for a high majority of respondents. Regarding
the value of peer comments on the blog, however, student percep-
tions were divided between agreement (27%), disagreement (37%)
and neutral attitude (36%).
To address the second research question (What contextual
variables impact perceived learning in this undergraduate class?)
209O. Halic et al. / Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 206213
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we employed a series of ANOVAs and a ttest. Since the compared
sample sizes differed in each of the two ANOVAs, we checked for the
assumption of homogeneity of variance using Levene's test. Non-
signicant results indicated that the assumption was not violated. The
ANOVAs yielded non-signicant results, showing that there is no
difference in students' perceived learning based on age, gender,
computer expertise, or previous blogging experience. The ttest
revealed that there was a signicant difference (t=5.90, pb0.001)
in perceived learning between the students with a low sense of
community (M=3.15, SD=0.74) and those with a high sense of
community (M=3.88, SD=0.25).
Addressing the third research question (Does sense of community
predict perceived learning?), a linear multiple regression analysis was
conducted with Sense of Community (SC), Age, Previous Experience
with Blogs (ExpBlog) and Computer Expertise (CompExpert) as
predictors of perceived learning. Before performing the analysis, we
checked for multicollinearity. First, we screened the bivariate
correlations between the variables, which revealed that the highest
correlation was 0.69 (see Table 3 for the correlation matrix).
According to Tabachnick and Fidell (2007), presence of two or more
correlations above 0.90 can signal multicolliniarity, which was not the
case in this dataset. Second, we performed collinearity diagnostics
(Belsely, Kuh, & Welsch, 1980), which showed that none of the
condition indices greater than 30 were coupled with variance
proportions greater than 0.50 for two or more variables concurrently
(Tabachnick & Fidell). We also calculated the tolerance coefcients by
performing regression of each independent variable on the other
independent variables consecutively (Wooldridge, 2003). The toler-
ance coefcients were 0.79 for Sense of Community, 0.92 for Age, 0.95
for Previous Experience with Blogs, and 0.79 for Computer Expertise.
Therefore, we concluded that multicollinearity was unlikely in our
sample.
Sense of Community and Computer Expertise were identied as
independent predictors of perceived learning (b= 0.73, pb0.001, and
b=0.22, pb0.01 respectively), after controlling for age and previous
experience with blogs. In other words, a one unit increase in the self-
reported score of Sense of Community leads to 0.73-point increase in
the score of perceived learning, and a one unit increase in the self-
reported Computer Expertise leads to 0.22-point increase in the score
of perceived learning. Table 4 displays the unstandardized regression
coefcients (B), the standardized regression coefcients (beta), and R,
R
2
, and adjusted R
2
. The other factors introduced in the regression
model did not account for a signicant percentage of the variance in
the perceived learning scores. The coefcient of determination (R
2
)
was 0.55, indicating that the model explained 55% of the variance in
the perceived learning score.
6. Discussion
The majority of the participants in this study reported that their
blog experience was positive and enhanced their overall learning, in
particular helping them think about concepts outside of the
classroom. They also acknowledged that the blogging task facilitated
Table 3
Intercorrelations between variables, means and standard deviations.
Variable PL SC Age ExpBlog CompExpert
Perceived Learning (PL) .69** .01 .04 .11
Sense of Community (SC) .10 .04 .44**
Age .22 .10
Previous experience with blogs
(ExpBlog)
.03
Computer Expertise (CompExpert)
Means 3.40 2.67 19.58 2.01 4.12
Standard deviations .71 .80 1.43 1.27 .88
**pb.01, two-tailed.
Table 4
Multiple regression of sense of community, age, computer expertise, and experience
with blogs on perceived learning.
Model Unstandardized
coefcients
Standardized
coefcients
tSig.
B SE B Beta
(Constant) 1.69 .89 1.89 .064
SC .73 .09 .83 8.58 .000
Age .06 .04 .11 1.25 .216
CompExpert .22 .08 .27 2.80 .007
ExpBlog .03 .05 .05 .60 .549
R=.74, R
2
=.55, Adjusted R
2
=.52
Table 2
Factor loadings, communalities (h
2
), eigenvalues, and percents of variance for principal axis factoring extraction and varimax rotation.
Item F
1
F
2
h
2
Perceived Learning items
1. The blog discussions help me to share my knowledge and experience with my peers. .52 .00 .41
2. I believe that incorporating blogs with teaching can enhance my learning experience in general. .67 .00 .64
3. Other students' comments on my blog posts are important. .60 .00 .48
4. Blog discussions help me understand other points of view. .67 .00 .57
5. Blog discussions have made me think about nutrition concepts outside of this class. .73 .00 .55
6. My point of view has been acknowledged by my peers and/or discussion leader in this course. .45 .00 .35
7. Overall using the blog has helped me learn. .81 .00 .72
Sense of Community items
8. I visit our nutrition blog more than required by my instructor. .00 .67 .56
9. The blog helps me feel connected to other students in this course. .00 .67 .58
10. Due to the class blog, I feel that I am an important part of our classroom community. .00 .75 .65
11. I have been stimulated to do additional readings or research on topics discussed on the blog. .00 .50 .43
12. In comparison to my other classes, the amount of my interaction with other students in this class has increased due to the blog. .00 .81 .68
13. In comparison to my other classes, the quality of interaction with other students in this class has increased due to the blog. .00 .71 .61
Eigenvalues 6.69 1.35
Percentage of variance 51.46 10.40
F
1
Perceived learning.
F
2
Sense of community.
210 O. Halic et al. / Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 206213
Author's personal copy
the sharing of knowledge among peers. However, they did not
particularly value the comments of their peers. Moreover, students'
perceptions of learning in this class depended upon their sense of
community: when the sense of community was higher, students
reported higher levels of learning and vice versa. Sense of community
emerged as a signicant predictor of perceived learning, with higher
levels of community being related to higher levels of perceived
learning.
Similar to Churchill (2009), Ducate and Lomicka (2008), Ellison
and Wu (2008), and Goldman et al. (2008), our ndings revealed that,
in general, the majority of students had a positive experience with the
blog-supported learning environment and acknowledged the learning
potential of the blog as a discussion medium. The large majority of
these participants agreed that blog conversations offered them
opportunities to reect on course-related concepts outside of the
class and to share different perspectives on the course material. These
results are consistent with some qualitative ndings on students'
experiences of blogging. Paulus, Payne, et al. (2009) found that
students, when blogging in an unstructured environment without
discussion prompts or active facilitation by instructors, offered
multiple perspectives on the general course topic of nutrition. Sharma
and Xie (2008) found that blogging stimulated student thinking and
learning by offering alternative perspectives related to the course
content, triggering careful examination of the content(p.143) and
extending discussion about course content outside of the class. These
are key activities that engage critical thinking and reection.
Although students acknowledged the benecial effect of the blog
activity on their overall learning, only approximately one fourth of
them valued their peers' comments on the blog. While consistent with
Ellison and Wu (2008) ndings, our results differ from other studies
(Ducate & Lomicka, 2008; Churchill, 2009; Kerawalla, Minocha,
Kirkup, & Conole, 2009), which showed students' support for peer
feedback on their blog posts. For example, students in an online
master's program associated the absence of comments on each other's
blogs with the lack of sense of community (Kerawalla et al.). On the
other hand, Ellison and Wu (2008) found that students felt
uncomfortable providing and receiving negative feedback, and some
were concerned with the absence of substantive peer feedback. Thus,
in this case, students may have not come to understand the value of
peer feedback. An understanding of why students do not value peer
feedback, whether the reason be anxiety or other factors, requires
additional research. Variation in specic instructional strategies and
classroom climate and community could account for these inconsis-
tent results in the literature. With the exception of Kerawalla et al.,
blogging was mandatory in all reviewed studies, and different
approaches to blogging were used but without an observable pattern
across studies. In our study, students had to discuss embedded articles
and videos, which, in turn, they may have perceived as the main
source of learning over peer discussions. As Kerawalla et al. suggested,
implementation of blogs into learning comes with the risk that
students will not develop an appropriate understanding of the
pedagogy underlying this implementation and consequently lack
the motivation to engage actively in the process of knowledge
building. Thus, instructors need to be aware of and try to minimize
potential inconsistencies between their instructional expectations
and goals and students' purposes and motivations for blogging.
Sense of community and computer expertise (at the beginning of
the course) emerged as signicant predictors of perceived learning.
Higher levels of community and higher levels of computer expertise
were related to higher levels of perceived learning. Neither previous
experience with blogs nor age had a signicant impact on perceived
learning. Technical competence, a construct similar to computer
expertise, has previously been identied as a critical factor for success
in online environments (Benson Soong, Chuan Chan, Chai Chua, &
Fong Loh, 2001). However, later research showed a more complex
picture of the impact of technical competence in online courses (Kerr,
Rynearson, & Kerr, 2006). Our ndings support the idea that students'
computer expertise at the beginning of the course inuenced their
perception of learning.
After controlling for other variables, perceived learning was
signicantly predicted by students' sense of community. This suggests
that in the classes in which studentsfeel that they are connectedto their
peers and belong to the learning community, students experience more
satisfactory learning experiences. Other research (Lichtenstein, 2005),
although not directly connected to the educational use of blogs,
indicates that feeling part of the classroom community positively affects
students' overall learning experiences and their learning outcomes.
Thus, examining the effect of freshman learning communities on
student learning, Lichtenstein found that students had positive
experiences in those courses which emphasized the sense of commu-
nity, supportive relationships between the instructor and students,
experiential and active learning. Sharma and Xie (2008) also found that
use of blogs facilitated the development of a sense of community among
participants, who considered that sharing learning experiences and
becoming familiar with each other's opinions were conducive to mutual
growth(p.145). This suggests that increasing students' feeling of
belonging by incorporating blogs into learning can enhance their learning
experience. Thus, if the goal is to improve students' learning experience
in large university classes, creating a classroom community and helping
students to become part of it should be the focus of instructors.
Although the instructor of this blended nutrition course did not
explicitly facilitate the development of a sense of community among
students, more than a third of the participants reported an overall
high sense of community. Perhaps a stronger emphasis on developing
a sense of community or social and teaching presence within the
blogging structure would enhance students' learning experience. One
approach would be to provide explicit instructional expectations
regarding community building and its potential to affect learning.
Garrison et al. (2000) pointed out that for deep learning to occur,
social presence (the connection within the learning community),
teaching presence (in part based on the relationship of the instructor
to the students), and cognitive presence (a form of active learning
through reection) are essential. At the same time, teaching presence
seen through facilitation of a discussion forum or blog has been found
essential when evaluating students' perceived learning (Garrison &
Cleveland-Innes, 2005). Factors leading to student perceived learning
are complex, but sense of community and teaching and social
presence are conducive to higher levels of perceived learning.
7. Conclusion
This study revealed a series ofissues that instructors should consider
when blogs are incorporated into teaching and learning. First, this
technological tool works better when it is coupled with compatible
pedagogical conceptions. Second, since computer experience at the
beginning of the course signicantly affected students' perceptions of
learning, we suggest that attention should be given to providing
technical instructions and guidance at the beginning of the course until
students gain condence with any new tool. Sense of community can be
enhanced through both student and instructor interaction via the blog.
While unstructured blogging may result in conversation among
students (Paulus, Evans, et al., 2009; Paulus, Payne, et al., 2009), a
more structured blogging task (instructor prompts and facilitation by
graduate teaching assistants) may result in more focused, course-
specicblogging(Paulus, Evans, et al., 2009). Garrison and Cleveland-
Innes (2005) also point out that interaction is insufcient to achieve
cognitive engagement. Some type of facilitation in online environments
may be necessary.
One of the limitations of this study is the survey response rate of
43%, which is moderate. In addition, this study did not attempt to
make comparisons between students who used blogs and those who
did not, although such analysis could provide further insights into
211O. Halic et al. / Internet and Higher Education 13 (2010) 206213
Author's personal copy
student perceptions of blog effectiveness to support learning.
However, in the next steps of our research, we intend to expand
this survey to include students who do not participate in blog
activities. Future research could also compare the different blogging
tasks and designs across courses. The impact of blog effectiveness on
student outcomes is another important direction for future research.
Finally, further investigation into student attitudes toward peer
feedback in blended learning environments is warranted.
While blogs have the potential for collaboration and interaction,
blogging tasks in educational environments vary in their use of blog
features (i.e., the emphasis on the author's voice, connection with the
audience through comments and voluntary interaction). This varia-
tion can dramatically change the learning potential of this tool. There
is more to be learned about the impact of blog use on student sense of
belonging, perceived learning, and student satisfaction with learning.
Acknowledgment
We gratefully acknowledge Ovidiu Lasca's assistance with the data
analysis.
Appendix A. The survey instrument
Strongly Agree
(SA)
Agree
(A)
Neutral
(N)
Disagree
(D)
Strongly disagree
(SD)
Perceived learning items
1. The blog discussions help me to share my knowledge and experience with my peers. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
2. I believe that incorporating blogs with teaching can enhance my learning experience in general. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
3. Other students' comments on my blog posts are important. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
4. Blog discussions help me understand other points of view. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
5. Blog discussions have made me think about nutrition concepts outside of this class. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
6. My point of view has been acknowledged by my peers and/or discussion leader in this course. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
7. Overall using the blog has helped me learn. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
Sense of community items
8. I visit our nutrition blog more than required by my instructor. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
9. The blog helps me feel connected to other students in this course. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
10. Due to the class blog, I feel that I am an important part of our classroom community. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
11. I have been stimulated to do additional readings or research on topics discussed on the blog. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
12. In comparison to my other classes, the amount of my interaction with other students in this class has
increased due to the blog.
(SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
13. In comparison to my other classes, the quality of interaction with other students in this class has
increased due to the blog.
(SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
Other items
1. At the beginning of the semester, I was very concerned about using blogs in Nutrition 100
(i.e., lack of time, lack of technical skills).
(SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
2. My knowledge of computer technology at the beginning of the course was quite limited. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
3. My familiarity with computer technology has increased because of this class. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
4. It is important for the blog to be user-friendly. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
5. A large number of posts does not inhibit my ability to communicate. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
6. My comfort level when using blogs in Nutrition 100 is very high. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
7. I believe that blogs will eventually replace class lectures. (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
8. I regularly use other technology tools (i.e., Facebook, iTunes, video gaming). (SA) (A) (N) (D) (SD)
9. Age Self-reported response
10. Gender Response options: female, male
11. Year at University Self-reported response
12. Major Self-reported response
13. Length of previous experience using blogs Self-reported response
14. After this course I would rate my level of computer expertise as Response options: novice, intermediate, advanced, expert
15. The grade I expect to receive in this course is Self-reported response
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