Integrating Collaborative PBL with Blended Learning to Explore Preservice Teachers’ Development of Online Learning Communities

This article was published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 26, Issue 8, Author(s): Yu-chu Yeh, " Integrating Collaborative PBL with Blended Learning to Explore Preservice Teachers’ Development of Online Learning Communities", Pages 1630-1640, Copyright Elsevier (November 2010).

This article presents a study which integrated collaborative problem-based learning (collaborative PBL) with blended learning.
The purpose of the study was to explore the emerging process and function of online learning communities among preservice teachers.

Thirty-two preservice teachers participated in a 16-week instruction program.

Data were collected through online group discussions and portfolios.

The findings show that
(a) the integrated approach facilitated the preservice teachers’ formation of online learning communities;
(b) the preservice teachers’ online learning communities emerged via four stages: motivation and acquaintance, socialization and belongingness, information exchange and consensus, and tacit understanding and development; and
(c) six factors influenced the development of the preservice teachers’ online learning communities.