Learners’ Interpersonal Beliefs and Generated Feedback in an Online Role-Playing Peer- Feedback Activity: An Exploratory Study

Authors

  • Yu-Hui Ching Boise State University
  • Yu-Chang Hsu Boise State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i2.2221

Keywords:

role-play, peer feedback, interpersonal, feedback type, online discussion, voicethread

Abstract

Peer feedback affords interaction and critical thinking opportunities for learners in online courses. However, various factors prevent learners from taking advantage of these promising benefits. This study explored learners’ perceptions of the interpersonal factors in a role-playing peer-feedback activity, and examined the types of peer feedback that learners generated when playing a role. Participants were 16 graduate students engaged in an online role-playing peer-feedback activity. The results from survey responses revealed learners’ positive interpersonal beliefs, including psychological safety and trust, toward the role-playing peer-feedback activity. In addition, more than sixty percent of the participants reported being more comfortable critiquing peers’ work when playing a role. The content analysis of the peer-feedback entries indicated that learners were able to generate highly constructive feedback entries. In addition to adding supportive comments, those feedback entries identified problems, asked questions, and provided suggestions. The results show that role-play strategy has great potential to enhance learners’ interpersonal beliefs in peer-feedback activity and their feedback quality.

Author Biographies

Yu-Hui Ching, Boise State University

Yu-Hui Ching, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at Boise State University, and teaches graduate level online courses on Instructional Design, Theoretical Foundations of Educational Technology, and Internet for Educators. Her research interests include Web 2.0 technologies for teaching and learning, computer-supported collaborative learning, and ill-structured problem solving.

Yu-Chang Hsu, Boise State University

Yu-Chang Hsu is Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at Boise State University, and teaches graduate courses on research methods, graphic design for learning, mobile app design, and emerging trends in Educational Technology. His research interests include learning and instruction innovation through emerging technologies, collaborative learning, and computational thinking.

Published

2016-03-01

How to Cite

Ching, Y.-H., & Hsu, Y.-C. (2016). Learners’ Interpersonal Beliefs and Generated Feedback in an Online Role-Playing Peer- Feedback Activity: An Exploratory Study. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v17i2.2221

Issue

Section

Research Articles