RUME 26
2024
Omaha, Nebraska
Online vs Face-to-Face Instruction: Affordances and Interactions
Page: 1483
The study reported here was conducted in spring 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the instruction changed from face-to-face to online. The change affected the interactions instructor-students-mathematical content. In this study, we compare online vs face-to-face instruction, with a focus on affordances and interactions. Participants (N=51) were undergraduate students enrolled in a Discrete Mathematics course taught by the author. The mathematical content referred to proofs by mathematical induction. Data collected included a questionnaire for students, a questionnaire for instructor, students’ postings in Blackboard/Discussion Forum (homework and comments on mathematical induction tasks), and students’ answers on the final exam on two tasks referring to mathematical induction. The findings revealed one important online affordance for students, the Blackboard/Discussion Forum. To account for the patterns of online interaction between students, social network analysis was employed.