Facilitation strategies and problem space coverage: comparing face-to-face and online case-based discussions

In this exploratory, descriptive study we examined how discussion goals were accomplished during face-to-face and online case-based discussions facilitated by the same co-instructors. An analysis of discussion transcripts suggests that despite different instructor and student participation patterns across contexts, the instructors' goals of creating social cohesion and supporting students' case understanding were equally met. However, coverage of the targeted problem space indicated greater attention to "problem finding" (i.e., identifying relevant issues) by face-to-face students and greater attention to "problem solving" (i.e., identifying workable solutions) by online students, as indicated by the frequencies with which these different aspects were discussed. We interpret results by considering how the affordances of each context shaped both teacher-student interactions and students' coverage of the problem-finding and problem-solving space.