Integrating Web-Enhanced Instruction into a Research Methods Course: Examination of Student Experiences and Perceived Learning

Background and Purpose. Classroom technology in the form of Web-enhanced instruction is becoming widely available and adopted by educators as a supplement to didactic instruction. The research purpose of this qualitative study was to describe physical therapist student experiences and perceived learning during a Web-enhanced course. A second purpose was to present the instructor's perspective on the scholarship of teaching as defined by Boyer. Subjects. Fifty-seven fifth-year physical therapist students enrolled in a 12-week Web-enhanced course PTH1405 “Research for Physical Therapists” participated. Methods. Course materials were placed online using BlackboardTM, a Web-based educational software package. To examine student experiences and learning, data were collected four times during the academic term via discussion board transcripts, chat room transcripts, and reflective papers. The investigator iteratively analyzed each round of data to identify the principle patterns using a qualitative research methodology. Review of data categories by two physical therapist graduate students served as a method of triangulation. Coding categories began as descriptive and progressed to pattern codes and themes. Results. Four themes addressed issues pertaining to: online behavior, communication feature use, students' perspective-how they learn-and barriers. Discussion and Conclusion. Students behaved differently when using discussion board and chat room communication features. Discussion boards allowed students to post individual reactions to assignments, view diverse perspectives of their peers, and post threads leisurely. Virtual chat was viewed as duplicative when students could meet in person. Many students articulated a preference for face-to-face interaction. Web-enhanced instruction is one available educational strategy that can potentially foster deeper thinking about an assignment and provide opportunities for students to compare their thinking to their peers. Barriers to online learning can be either technical or nontechnical. Student reflective papers and archival records of online communication provide data that contributes to faculty scholarship on teaching and learning.