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Media richness, social presence, group cohesion and content of computer-mediated and face-to-face communication

Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Even though investigations of knowledge construction within CMC have been conducted (e.g. \nGunawardena, Lowe and Anderson, 1997; Schellens & Valcke, 2004), no research has compared \nF2F communication and CMC in terms of the ability to solve complex tasks and to develop \ngroup cohesion. Group cohesion has been found to be vital for group cooperation and \nperformance. Eight self-formed groups of 5 student participants each volunteered to participate \nin this study. Each group was required to solve two standardised, complex tasks in the same \norder. Student groups were randomly assigned to one of four medium combinations with two \ngroups per combination. The combinations were: F2F communication for both tasks, CMC for \nboth tasks, F2F communication for the first task and CMC for the second task, and CMC for the \nfirst task and F2F communication for the second task. Measures of knowledge construction were \ntaken using the IAM (Gunawardena et al., 1997), group cohesion (assessed before and after the \ntasks) using the GAS (Evans & Jarvis, 1986), and a self-developed scale to assess satisfaction \nwith the process and the outcome. The results showed that CMC groups produced significantly \nfewer contributions, and took a longer time to complete tasks, but there was no significant \ndifference between the two mediums in terms of knowledge construction. The medium \ncombination of F2F communication followed by CMC, achieved the least time to completion; \nthe second most effective medium for knowledge construction, the greatest satisfaction with \nrespect to group processes and the decision in the first task, and achieved a significantly higher \nlevel of post-manipulation group cohesion.
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2288742406
Cites: 66
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Related to: 10