What’s the Difference? A Closer Look at Idea-Centric Analysis of Online Discourse in K12 and Higher Education Settings

Abstract

This study investigated the differences between two online discourses in the eighth grade and post-graduate settings, in an initial effort to understand how students deepen their understanding by improving their ideas through knowledge building discourse. Using an idea-centric approach for discourse analysis, preliminary findings show a diverse and larger number of ideas in the eighth-grade discourse when compared to a smaller variety but more promising ideas in the post-graduate discourse. The findings provided information about strategies to guide and scaffold students of different levels in their improvement of ideas and understanding through knowledge building discourse.