Research Projects
Chatrooms for Small Group Learning
In educational environments, my dissertation research has focused on the implications of choosing to use chat environments instead of face-to-face classrooms. In particular, I have looked at learning behaviors of small groups of college students. My early work used IRC Français, a chat program that I specifically designed for foreign language learning (Hudson & Bruckman, 2002). In this research, I showed that power and dominance relationships change when students move online. In the classroom, most students actively avoided talking, and the instructor dominated the conversation. When these students conversed online, however, they all actively participated, and the instructor could hardly get a word in edgewise. Through a case study of students interacting in this environment, I suggested that these behavioral changes occur because of (1) factors that promote disinhibition (e.g., reduced self-awareness, control over personal social cues) and (2) factors that limit control over the conversational floor (e.g., lack of blocking mechanisms) (Hudson & Bruckman, 2004).
With these changing patterns of participation online, we must ask: Just because students talk more online, are they necessarily having better conversations? Despite a general belief that conversation in chatrooms is not as good as face-to-face discussion, results from a quantitative, quasi-experimental study in a professional ethics education class found little difference between the quality of discussion content in these two environments (Hudson, 2006). Other factors, such as group dynamics, seemed to play a more important role than media choice in influencing the quality of these discussions. In other words, it seems that the choice to use chatrooms or face-to-face environments has limited effect on the quality of the discussion content; other variables (e.g., having someone play a Devil's advocate role) have a greater impact on the quality of the discussion. It's worth noting, however, that media choice did significantly impact efficiency. It took nearly twice as much time to carry out a conversation online because of the inherent difficulties of expressing complex ideas in text and because students tend to split their attention between the conversation and other factors (e.g., looking up relevant information, making a sandwich, reading email, etc.). When choosing to use chatrooms, it's important that designers remember to allow much more time for these conversations.
Publications
Hudson, J. M. (2006). The Role of Chatrooms in Facilitating Learning Behaviors in Small Group Learning. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. (2007 Update: To be published by Cambria Press)
Hudson, J. M., & Bruckman, A. (2004). The Bystander Effect: A Lens for Understanding Patterns of Participation. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(2), 169-199.
Hudson, J. M., & Bruckman, A. (2002). IRC Français: The Creation of an Internet-based SLA Community. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 15(2), 109-134.
Hudson, J. M., & Bruckman, A. (2002). Disinhibition in a CSCL Environment. Proceedings of Computer Support for Collaborative Learning (CSCL), 629 - 630. Boulder, CO. [Short Talk]
Hudson, J. M., & Bruckman, A. (2001). Effects of CMC on Student Participation Patterns in a Foreign Language Learning Environment. Proceedings of Human Factors in Computing (CHI), 263 - 264. Seattle, WA. [Short Talk]
Hudson, J. M. (2000). IRC Français - A French Learning Community. Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS), 228 - 229. Ann Arbor, MI.[Short Talk]