Adaptation of Flanders Interaction Assessment System for Online and Offline Comparative Purposes

This article proposes a revision to the Flanders Interaction Analysis System (FIAS), called the FIAS for Online and Offline Comparative Purposes, in order to establish a unified framework with equivalent categories for comparing and contrasting online and offline classroom interaction. While it makes moderate modifications to the application and analysis procedures of FIAS, a completely redesigned category system is proposed to better align the format and techniques of online teaching with traditional offline classes. The original categories of FIAS are preserved, but the subsystems of each category are greatly enriched to encompass 24 types of classroom utterances and behaviors. For Teacher Talk/Behaviors, nonverbal interactions and postponed feedback are considered with new ingredients of novel lecturing. Emphasis is laid on the improvements to Student Talk/Behaviors to incorporate presentation, chat room discussion, and other new forms of interaction activities. Interspace transcends mere silence and confusion by encompassing both operation and preparation time, which are instrumental for seamless functioning of online instruction. It is hoped that the utility of FIAS(OOCP) extends to a wider range of comparative interaction analyses across various subjects and disciplines.