Content area
Abstract
This grounded theory study was conducted to (1) determine the quantity and quality of interaction occurring in satellite classrooms, (2) compare these findings to those depicted in published research focussed on interaction in traditional classrooms, and (3) generate a substantive theory of interaction in satellite learning classrooms.
Classroom observations and/or participant interviews were conducted in 1 elementary and 23 high school satellite learning classrooms. The data generated from the visitations were supplemented with TV videotapes and survey data obtained from six deliverers of satellite television courses. The processes and products of the study were enhanced by the constant comparative method of analysis which incorporated the findings of published research and literature into the study.
The characteristics of highly interactive satellite classrooms are delineated and distinguished from those of classrooms where little interaction occurred. In highly interactive satellite classrooms, it was found that when the TV/telephone teacher (teleteacher) applied a set of discrete strategies to class sessions (communication, motivation, relationship-building, and involving), a rich interaction framework was modelled for response by the facilitator and students in the local satellite classroom. If the classroom facilitator reacted to this framework with complementary strategies (monitoring, turn-regulating, supplementing and extending), student interaction exhibited fluency, variety, depth. Also, in these highly interactive classrooms, a high degree of focussed attention was characteristic of participating students.
A theory of interaction in the satellite classroom was generated to distinguish interaction in satellite classrooms from that in traditional classrooms. It pictures satellite classroom interaction as a complex and dynamic process set in motion by a set of regulators (context, content, instructional design, and people) that influence classroom interaction negatively, neutrally, or positively. Of these regulators, the people, especially the teleteacher and the classroom facilitator, have the highest degree of influence on interaction.
The researcher hypothesizes that improved interaction will result in the satellite learning classroom if the regulators and strategies delineated by the theory are given appropriate attention.
