WU

Five stages of interaction

Ross Woods, Feb 08

The Gunawardena Interaction Analysis Model is used to analyze the way people learn through discussion, including on-line debate. It divides the discussion into five phases.

The model looks like a good guide for discussion facilitators.

So let's make it a set of guidelines to help you facilitate a group.

Gunawardena Interaction Analysis Model

What to do

1. Lead the group to share and compare their ideas and experiences

Get people to report their ideas and experiences without fear of criticism.

Compare their ideas and experiences

Find areas of common ground where they agree. Be sure to build mutual respect.

2. Lead the group to explore the things they don't agree on.

Identify key points that they don't agree on.

Find out why they don't agree. Causes may be differences in:

temperament

context

assumptions values and and ideologies,

purposes

Consider viewpoints not represented in the group (so its not just a sharing of ignorance)

3. Lead the group to negotiate their ideas, during which they work together to develop new ideas

Build a picture of the whole thing you want to learn about. Gain some kind of consensus, even if it's only agreeing to disagree.

4. Lead the group to test their tentative ideas

What criteria apply to your ideas? I.e. how will you know whether they are good or bad, work or don't work?

What kinds of situations would your ideas need to work in?

Will your new ideas work? Are there any exceptions or complicating factors?

5. Lead the group to state and/or apply your new knowledge

Get students to state what they have learnt. They may find it difficult to articulate, and might each have learnt something different.

Get students to put their new ideas into practice.

If there is benefit in continuing the topic, the next round of discussions might start with feedback from the group's attempts to put it into practice, and then progress through the cycle again.

Technically speaking

Technically speaking, learning in this sense is a joint construction of meaning. If that helps you, good. If it doesn't, don't worry about it.

It resembles many other "constructed meaning" conceptions (grounded theory, open spaces, appreciative inquiry, etc.) and is mainly a social constructivist approach (i.e. learning occurs by interacting with other people).

Reference
Gunawardena, C., Lowe, C., and Anderson, T. (1997). Analysis of a Global Online Debate and the Development of an Interaction Analysis Model for Examining Social Construction of Knowledge in Computer Conferencing. In Seidman R.H. (Ed). Journal of Educational Computing Research. Vol. 17, Number 4. Cited in "Discourse Analysis and Role Adoption in a Community of Practice" by Rosemary Thomson, Doris Reeves-Lipscombe, Bronwyn Stuckey, and Mandia Mentis Published at www.cpsquare.org (viewed 24 Feb, 07

Gunawardena Interaction Analysis Model	What to do
1. Lead the group to share and compare their ideas and experiences	Get people to report their ideas and experiences without fear of criticism. Compare their ideas and experiences Find areas of common ground where they agree. Be sure to build mutual respect.
2. Lead the group to explore the things they don't agree on.	Identify key points that they don't agree on. Find out why they don't agree. Causes may be differences in: temperament context assumptions values and and ideologies, purposes Consider viewpoints not represented in the group (so its not just a sharing of ignorance)
3. Lead the group to negotiate their ideas, during which they work together to develop new ideas	Build a picture of the whole thing you want to learn about. Gain some kind of consensus, even if it's only agreeing to disagree.
4. Lead the group to test their tentative ideas	What criteria apply to your ideas? I.e. how will you know whether they are good or bad, work or don't work? What kinds of situations would your ideas need to work in? Will your new ideas work? Are there any exceptions or complicating factors?
5. Lead the group to state and/or apply your new knowledge	Get students to state what they have learnt. They may find it difficult to articulate, and might each have learnt something different. Get students to put their new ideas into practice.