Facilitating Deep Learning in a Learning Community

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore how the integration of online discussion into a mathematics methods course affected pre-service teachers’ learning. Students’ transcription of online discussion was analyzed using a mixed methods approach, combining computer-mediated discourse analysis and Chi-square test analysis. The data revealed that the online discussion helped pre-service teachers not only deepen their learning of mathematics methods, but also demonstrated their abilities to teach mathematics in different ways. It also indicated that the depth of their learning depended on the levels of threads and topics of discussion. Deep learning occurs 1) more often in the first level thread than subsequent level threads, and 2) in discussion topics, primarily those related to practice-based issues rather than theory-based topics.