This presentation was for research study I conducted at during my graduate program for Information Technology. I found that those who participated in a chat-room study session before an exam did better on that exam then those who participated in a non-relevant chat.

2.  The online learning environment has
made education convenient for many
students.
 Online classes are similar to a traditional
lecture classroom (Smith, Smith & Boone, 2000).

3.  Studies on communication in an online
learning environment.
› Emails: created a sense of personable-ness
(Tu, 2002).
› Discussion boards: Online students received
better grades and knowledge when
participating in discussion (Althaus, 1997).

4.  Online students use of the chat room
have demonstrated more:
› Questioning
› Replying
› Thought provoking comments
(Paulus & Phipps, 2008).

5.  In an online environment, this study
attempts to demonstrate:
› A chapter relevant chat study session, prior
to an exam, can help students obtain better
grades on the exam.

6.  Student success had been established, in
a study that used different types of
electronic communication (Lavooy & Newlin, 2003).
 Chat room participation can provide
crucial information for the instructors:
› Knowing who was engaged and understood
the material, (
Lavooy & Newlin, 2003).

7.  Instant feedback & anonymous
atmosphere motivated students to
share, (Rutter, 2006).
 The anonymous factor allowed students
who were too shy or embarrassed to
participate in discussing the course
material in person
› Ask questions with less fear and more
articulation than in person (Rutter, 2006).

8.  Students felt comfortable within their
online group members in association
within a chat room (Janssen, Erkens, Kirschner & Kanselaar, 2009).
 Chat room activity developed a bond
between students that created an
atmosphere for better learning in an
online environment (Pelowski, Frissell, Cabral & Yu, 2005).

9.  A study demonstrated a positive
correlation between chat room
behaviors and student performance.
 There was also a link between chat room
intimacy and learning(Pelowski, Frissell, Cabral & Yu, 2005).

10.  The online learning environment can be
an effective way to learn material with
proper communication tools.
› This can be as adequate for students as a
traditional classroom.
 Study sessions conducted online could
have a positive effect on student’s
experiences, learning and grades.

11.  To further demonstrate the effectiveness
of the chat room for online students, this
study looks at exam scores.
› The outcome of chat room study sessions
could improve exam scores.

12.  Students, who participate in a chapter-
relevant, online chat study session, will
have better scores on a chapter exam
than those who simply read the text and
participate in a non-relevant chat.

13. Participants
 14 undergraduate students having an AOL AIM
account.
Apparatus
 A 1500 word, paraphrased copy of chapter
7, “Work and Retirement,”
› The Journey of Adulthood 6th edition by Barbara Bjorklund
and Helen Bee, Pearson Prentice Hall (2008).
 An online exam from the publishers companion
website:
› 10 multiple choice questions
› 16 matching terms
 A computer lab

14. Procedure
 15 minutes read the text
 15 minutes chat session
› Test group discussed the text
› Control group discussed movies
 25 minutes for exam taken online
 Scores recorded

15.  Participants engaged in a chapter
relevant chat study session earned
significantly higher test scores,
› (M = 22.57, SD = 3.55)
 compared to those engaged in a non
chapter relevant chat study session
› (M = 16.71, SD = 3.77), t(12) = -2.99, p = .011.

16. 25
20
15
Relevant
10 Non-relevant
5
0
Mean SD

17.  This provides online instructors with a
great way of communicating in order to:
› Correct any misinformation
› Drive home important points
› Answer questions.
› Judge who is learning and who is struggling

18.  Observations made in this study:
› Openness of students during the chat study
session, who:
 Clarified details of what they read
 Asked questions
 Shared personal experiences
 Offered opinions
 Demonstrated a speed of understanding and
applying the material, all in a safe
atmosphere.

19.  Small amount participants
 Timeframe of study was short compared
to a semester of an online class
 Not a real class setting
› Only one exam
› Length of exam
› Actual online students
 The chat room tool used (AIM)

20.  To further this research on chat study
sessions conducted in a chat room:
› Scores could be that compared 2 online
classes where:
 One class had chat study sessions
 One class did not have chat study sessions
› Overall grades could be compared in 2
similar classes that were:
 Online with chat study sessions
 Lecture with face-to-face study sessions

21.  Online chat study sessions can further
enhance the learning environment for
students in a virtual classroom.
 Understanding the virtual classroom and
what make it successful in today’s
technologically advanced societies, is
the future in educational research, as
the internet and online education has
crossed boundaries of cities, states and
countries.

22. Althaus, S. L. (1997). Computer-mediated communication in the
university classroom: An experiment with online discussions.
Communication Education, 46(3).
TU, C. (2002). The measurement of social presence in an online
learning environment. International Journal on E-Learning,1(2).
Lavooy, M. J. & Newlin, M. H. (2003). Computer mediated
communication: Online instruction and interactivity. Journal of
Interactive Learning a Research, 14(2).
Pelowski, S., Frissell, L., Cabral, K., & Yu, T. (2005). So far but yet so
close: student chat room immediacy, learning, and
performance in an online course. Journal of Interactive Learning
Research, 16(4).
Rutter, M. (2006). Tutorial chat: A case study of synchronous
communication in a learning environment. ALT-J Research in
Learning Technology, 14(2).
Wang, A., Newlin, M., & Tucker, T. (2001). A discourse analysis of
online classroom chats: Predictors of cyber-student
performance. Teaching of Psychology, 28(3).