Students' perspective of the effectiveness of an asynchronous on-line seminar

This study was conducted to understand students' perceptions of the usefulness of on-line discussion for a nursing seminar. The interpretative approach was selected to explore the students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the on-line discussion. The participants were recruited from maternity nursing courses on two rural campuses in Nebraska. A convenience sample of 31 participated in the study with a purposive sample of 10 representing extreme views selected for in-depth interviews. Eight patterns emerged as a plausible interpretation of the on-line experience. These patterns were exemplified by the themes of engagement theory (relate, create, and donate). The pattern that was identified as relational was learner-to-learner learning without face-to-face communication. However, isolation was found to inhibit relating. Creating, the second theme, was exemplified by multiperspective opinions, however, frustration with the technology and anxiety/information overload inhibited the creative aspects. Finally, the third theme, donate, was represented by having time for critical thinking/reflection while participating in the on-line discussions. The findings of this research support the need for more studies to explore students' perception of the usefulness of on-line discussion.