exploring the map of distance and e-learning research - a bibliographic analysis

Exploring the map of distance and e-learning research – a bibliographic analysis

EDEN Research Workshop, Budapest,25 October 2010

Olaf Zawacki-Richter

University of Oldenburg, GermanyCenter for Lifelong LearningFaculty of Educational and Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Olaf Zawacki-Richter 2Slide / 28

Overview

Distance Education Journals Validated structure of distance education research areas Review of research between 2000 and 2008: gaps and priority areas Perspectives for future research

Zawacki-Richter, O. (2009). Research areas in distance education – a Delphi study. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3), 1-17.

Zawacki-Richter, O., Bäcker, E. M., & Vogt, S. (2009). Review of distance education research (2000 to 2008) – analysis of issues, methods and authorship patterns. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(6), 21-50.

Zawacki-Richter, O., & von Prümmer, C. (2010). Gender and collaboration patterns in distance education research. Open Learning, 25(2), 95-114.

Zawacki-Richter, O., Anderson, T., & Tuncay, N. (2010). The growing impact of open access distance education journals - a bibliometric analysis. Journal of Distance Education, 24(3).


Part I: Distance Education Journals

What are the major journals in the field and how can they be grouped in terms of impact and perceived quality?

How do the journals relate to each other in a network of giving and receiving citations?

What are the most central and prestigious journals in the network and which journals are peripheral or isolated?


Structure of Distance Education Journal Network

Journals as important carriers of knowledge in a discipline Research builds upon and refers to previous research Previous research is acknowledged by citations Social Network Analysis (SNA): The nodes are journals and the ties

in the network are citations. The journal network reveals relationships and patterns of scientific

information exchange, the "intellectual structure" of a discipline (Liu, 2007).

Liu, Z. (2007). Scholarly communication in educational psychology: a journal citation analysis.

Collection Building. doi:10.1108/01604950710831915


Selected Journals


Journal Citation Network

Mean citation rate across all journals: 44 ("tie density") Standardized mean citation rate: 0.46 cites/paper


Journal Citation Network – Image Matrix

Doreian, P., & Fararo, T. J. (1985). Structural equivalence in a journal network. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 36(1), 28-37.


Perceived quality

Journal Prestige Survey: Editorial Board Members (83 of 277). Rating scale according to Nelson, Buss & Katzko (1983):

Please assign numbers to the journals listed below according to how you would rate them, where 5 = outstanding, 4 = excellent, 3 = good, 2 = adequate, 1 = poor. You may leave blanks if you do not recognize a journal.

Nelson, T. M., Buss, A. R., & Katzko, M. (1983). Rating of scholarly journals by chairpersons in the social sciences. Research in Higher Education, 19(4), 469-497.


Perceived quality and prestige


Part II: Research Areas in Distance Education

What are the most important research areas in DE and how can they be categorized?

What are the most neglected research areas?


Research Areas: Delphi Study

Expert panel: 25 individuals from 11 countries (average of 27 years of professional experience in distance education)

1. round: Experts were asked to list 10 important research areas 2. round: Experts were asked to rate research areas on a scale of

importance; What are the most neglected research areas?


Classification of Research Areas

Three broad research perspectives or levels with 15 research areas:

1.Macro level: Distance education systems and theories→ global system level: 5 research areas

2.Meso level: Management, organisation and technology→ institutional level: 7 research areas

3.Micro level: Teaching and learning in distance education→ individual level: 3 research areas


Classification of Research Areas

Macro level: Distance education systems and theories

1. Access, equity and ethics

2. Globalization of education and cross-cultural aspects

3. Distance teaching systems and institutions

4. Theories and models

5. Research methods in distance education and knowledge transfer

Micro level: Teaching and learning in DE

13. Instructional design

14. Interaction and communication in learning communities

15. Learner characteristics

Meso level: Management, organisation and technology

6. Management and organisation

7. Costs and benefits

8. Educational technology

9. Innovation and change

10. Professional development and faculty support

11. Learner support services

12. Quality assurance


Neglected Research Areas

Macro level: cross-cultural aspects of transnational education Meso level: innovation and change management, educational

management and organisation, costs and funding of DE Micro level: added value of Web 2.0 applications (instructional

design)


Part III: Publication and Authorship Patterns

What are the topics with the highest and lowest number of papers? What kind of research methods are applied and do DE journals prefer

to publish qualitative or quantitative studies? Do female and male researchers tend to choose different research

topics? If yes, what are their priority areas? Who are the leading authors and where do they come from?


Literature Review

Review of articles that were published in 5 prominent DE journals 9 years: 2000 to 2008 N=695 (675 English, 20 French)

Journals: Open Learning (UK) Distance Education (Australia) American Journal of Distance Education (USA) Journal of Distance Education (Canada) IRRODL (Canada)


Research areas and levels

13

13

24

31

62

12

13

18

23

41

41

48

113

121

122

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

7 Costs and benefits

2 Globalisation of education andcross-cultural aspects

5 Research methods in distanceeducation and knowledge transfer

9 Innovation and change

6 Management and organisation

11 Learner support services

4 Theories and models

1 Access, equity and ethics

10 Professional development andfaculty support

12 Quality assurance

8 Educational technology

3 Distance teaching systems andinstitutions

15 Learner characteristics

13 Instructional design

14 Interaction and communication inlearning communities

1 Macro level

2 Meso level

3 Micro level

N=695


Gender differences in research areas (single authors)

0.4%

-1.8%

-10.4%

-5.5%

-1.9%

-1.7%

-5.6%

-3.9%

-0.5%

2.5%

3.8%

-0.3%

6.0%

11.6%

7.4%

15 Learner characteristics14 Interaction and communication in learning communities13 Instructional design12 Quality assurance11 Learner support services10 Professional development and faculty support9 Innovation and change8 Educational technology7 Costs and benefits6 Management and organisation5 Research methods in DE and knowledge transfer4 Theories and models3 Distance teaching systems and institutions2 Globalisation of education and cross-cultural aspects1 Access, equity and ethics

preferred by men

preferred by women

χ2 = 38.07, df=14, p < .001

Cramer's V = .36, p < .001

N=302159 (M)143 (F)


Research Methods

Trend towards more empirical research? Berge & Mrozowski (2000): 76 % (N=727 articles; AJDE, DE, JDE

and OL, between 1990 and 1999). 2000-2008: 38 %


Authorship Patterns: Leading Contributors

1,148 different authors contributed to the 695 articles in this study. 48 authors who published at least 3 articles:

Canada (17) USA (9) UK (8) Australia (5), China (5) Israel (2) Japan/South Korea (1) New Zealand (1)


Authorship Patterns: Countries

The origin of the first author was taken into consideration (54 countries) The vast majority (>80%) comes from only 5 countries AJDE: strong North-American focus


So quo vadis? Perspectives for future research

Current research is clearly dominated by studies on the micro level. Major gaps were found on the macro and meso level. DEHub Project in Australia: http://www.dehub.edu.au/ Research consortium between 5 Australian universities established

2009



European research community is weaker compared to North American institutions (research outputs in leading DE journals).

European research agenda for the next decade. Clear research profile for the professional field of DE. EDEN: Focus Group or launch a project?! EURODL: better integration into the international journal network

needed


Thanks for your attention!

Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Ph. D.

Professor of Educational Technology

University of Oldenburg

Faculty of Educational and Social Sciences

Center for Lifelong Learning (C3L)

Germany

[email protected]