Emergence of the Most Knowledgeable Other (MKO): Social network analysis of chat and bulletin board conversations in a CSCL system

By conducting a social network analysis of chat and bulletin board conversations in a CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) system and identifying some underlying factors that impact learning and collaboration at the individual level and group level, we detect the emergence of the Most Knowledgeable Other (MKO, Vygotsky 1930/78) among the CSCL classroom participants. The study spanned three semesters and eight different courses, all of which used both in-class and CSCL teaching, and data was collected using a combination of methodologies with questionnaires and archived chat and bulletin board conversations. To map emergent student communication patterns, social network analysis tools were used to analyze relational data, calculate centrality scores and identify the formation of cliques (maximal subgroups in a network). Structural equation modeling was then performed on the hypothesized model to determine the impact of these centrality measures and the social factors on students' perceptions of respect and influence in group decisions, knowledge gained and their satisfaction with their performance in the course (Sundararajan 2009). While the formation of social network structures due to student chat and bulletin board conversations did have some significant impact on how the students perceived whether they gained respect among their classmates and whether they had influence on work related matters in online discussions, the most interesting finding was the emergence of peer MKOs within these class networks. This in turn did appear to have some significant impact on the students' perception of conceptual and new knowledge gained during the course and this is explained with relevance to group effects like cohesion and clique formation. Following the works of Johnson, Johnson & Holubec (1986) on cooperative learning and referring to the mapping of Vygotskian ideas and instructional design considerations for online teaching and learning from Hung and Chen's (2001) work, adapted by Taylor (2002), a model is proposed to take advantage of such findings of MKO emergence in CSCL environments and incorporate them into teaching and learning situations in CSCL environments or otherwise. The proposed model is called the PI-Matrix (Participation-Interaction Matrix) and can be used to help lurkers and shirkers, become workers and take an active role in their learning.