Student facilitators' habits of mind and their influences on higher-level knowledge construction occurrences in online discussions: A case study

Abstract

Previous research studies on factors influencing student higher-level knowledge construction in asynchronous online discussions have largely focused on the instructors' role, student learning style, and the complexity of the discussion task. This study explores the issue from a different angle - that of student facilitators' habits of mind. Participants of the study were education major students at an Asia-Pacific university. Results suggested significant differences in the frequency of four habits of mind displayed by student facilitators between the group that had the most number of phase II-V occurrences and the group that had fewer numbers of such occurrences. This implies that student facilitators who display these habits more frequently may promote knowledge construction in online discussions. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.