The Insiders’ Perspectives: A Focus Group Study on Gender Issues in a Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environment

Abstract

There is little doubt that the advent of collaborative technologies in recent years has brought some significant changes in the way students learn, communicate, and interact with one another. In recent years, this emergence has sparked increased interest for research into the role and impact of instructional technologies on group learning. Despite the widespread use of different instructional technologies to support teaching and learning in today's classroom, our understanding of these technologies and their underlying impacts on learners and instructors remains fragmented, specifically with regard to gender learning issues. One important area that has been neglected in the research is the impact of classroom technology on gender classroom equity and learning processes. Indeed, only a few studies have examined the gender learning issues inside the group learning process as it naturally occurs in an actual classroom. How do female students, as well as their instructors, perceive gender issues in their classroom? What are the experiences of female students in an online learning environment? Do technologies contribute to or hinder the achievement of gender classroom equity and positive learning experiences? These are some of the interesting but complex questions that this study attempted to explore. This paper presents a focus group study on the perspective and experiences of female management students and their instructors in an online learning environment that used a computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) system to facilitate student-to-student interactions. To explore the potential impact of a CSCL system on gender classroom equity, an interpretive field study was conducted to glean insights about the insider participants' experiences and perceptions. This study focused on both the female students and their instructors regarding their perceptions and experiences with the use of CSCL and their learning processes. Our research sites involved two graduate courses that used the computer supported collaborative learning in place of face-to-face discussions at least part of the semester. Drawn from the field notes and the transcripts of the interviews taken at the end of the semester, findings are reported along with an interpretation of the results. By virtue of being involved in and close to the phenomenon, subtle aspects on gender equity issues were detected from the use of the CSCL. The study is also among the first empirical research that applies and extends the view of e-learning productivity from the perspective of Habermas' Cognitive Interests Theory (Huynh, 2005). What emerged from this exploratory investigation is a deeper understanding of CSCL learning processes with respect to the gender issue. Such understanding leads to the practical implications as well as more definitive guidance for the direction of future research on the topic of gender issues in an online learning environment.