Use of Web 2.0 technologies: A virtual ethnographic and phenomenological study of first-year engineering students' experiences

Yi Luo, Purdue University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate first-year engineering students' (educational) experiences of using Web 2.0 technologies in online communities. Integrating the methodologies of virtual ethnography and phenomenology, this study investigated how first-year engineering students used Web 2.0 technologies in different contexts, such as non-educational, formal learning, and informal learning contexts. There were two sets of research questions. The question of the virtual ethnographic inquiry was: How do engineering students use Web 2.0 technologies in daily life? The phenomenological inquiry was based on the following questions: 1) How do engineering students perceive their use of Web 2.0 technologies in formal communities of learning? 2) How do engineering students perceive their use of Web 2.0 technologies in informal communities of learning? For data collection, the researcher first carried out a research orientation meeting with each participant. Then each participant was required to record online journal entries prompted by survey questions every other day throughout two weeks (seven entries in total). Finally the researcher collected data through in-depth phenomenological interviews. The data collected from 15 participants were included in the analyses of this study. The online journal data were analyzed through descriptive statistical analyses and thematic analysis; the interview data were analyzed through a phenomenology data analysis model. In order to uncover the shared themes among individual narratives and participant meanings in the community, a synthesized analysis was also conducted. The results showed that Web 2.0 technologies were an indispensable part of the first-year engineering participants' daily life, whether in out-of-school or school settings. The experienced benefits of more effective communication, improved collaborative writing efforts, and enhanced task and group management lead the first-year engineering students in this study to frequently use these emerging technologies in engineering projects. Web 2.0 tools played a significant role in facilitating the interaction among these first-year engineering students in multiple communities: informal engineering-related communities, online communities for first-year (engineering) students at Purdue, and communities for female engineering students. The students' experiences in communities of practice promoted by emerging Web 2.0 tools helped them obtain academic and social support, and develop a sense of belonging to engineering communities. The study also found although the students related their experiences with using Web 2.0 technologies to both informal and formal learning settings, the majority of their engineering learning experiences were associated with self-organized and self-regulated learning in informal engineering communities. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Strobel, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Engineering|Educational technology

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