An Analysis of Students' Spontaneous Computer-Mediated Help Seeking: A Step toward the Design of Ecologically Valid Supporting Tools

Autor/inn/en	Puustinen, Minna; Volckaert-Legrier, Olga; Coquin, Daniele; Bernicot, Josie
Titel	An Analysis of Students' Spontaneous Computer-Mediated Help Seeking: A Step toward the Design of Ecologically Valid Supporting Tools
Quelle	In: Computers & Education, 53 (2009) 4, S.1040-1047 (8 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0360-1315
DOI	10.1016/j.compedu.2008.10.003
Schlagwörter	Middle School Students; Help Seeking; Foreign Countries; Cognitive Style; Age Differences; Search Strategies; Network Analysis; Transcripts (Written Records); Content Analysis; Mathematics Instruction; Computer Mediated Communication; Distance Education; France; Sequential Tests of Educational Progress + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Middle school; Middle schools; Student; Students; Mittelschule; Mittelstufenschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Help-seeking behavior; Help-seeking behaviour; Hilfe suchendes Verhalten; Ausland; Cognitive styles; Kognitiver Stil; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Suchstrategie; Netzplantechnik; Inhaltsanalyse; Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Computerkonferenz; Distance study; Distance learning; Fernunterricht; Frankreich
Abstract	This study analyzes middle school students' spontaneous mathematics-related help-seeking behavior, in view of making ecologically valid recommendations for the design of supporting tools or "help systems". Our aim was to investigate the content of students' help-seeking messages--Are there different forms of help-seeking messages and do they evolve with age? We used the archives of a French forum that provides students with free individualized help in mathematics. The data consisted of 206 messages sent by French middle school students over a period of 42 months. The constituent categories of the messages were identified. The results showed that not all middle school students use the same help-seeking "format". Compared to sixth graders, ninth graders wrote messages containing more constituent categories, i.e., they provided the online expert with more kinds of information. A detailed analysis of the categories further showed that older students' messages more often contained explicit help requests and contextual information than did younger students' messages. Thus, the messages of the oldest students (age 15) were both cognitively more understandable and socially more acceptable than those of the youngest students (age 11). The interpretation of these findings and their implications for designing help systems are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10