Student group chats a ‘blind spot’ in learning support

Online chat groups help keep students motivated and provide a “safety net” against forgotten assignments, but their contribution is “more logistical than epistemic”, an Australian analysis suggests.

A study by University of Queensland educational researchers has found that students rarely head online to deepen their understanding of subject matter. Rather, chat groups help them maintain their spirits and defuse anxiety by making sure they do not fall behind their classmates or miss “important deadlines”.

The study of 30 first-year psychology students found that group chat participation helped satisfy their desire to “keep up with peers” while “knowing they were not alone”. It helped boost their motivation levels, mainly through reassurance, “timely support” and “peer benchmarking”.

Even when the students found themselves falling behind, most said chat group participation “increased rather than decreased their motivation”, the team reported in the journal The Internet and Higher Education. “Unlike structured educational settings, the student-initiated nature of these chats provided a sense of autonomy over help-seeking.”

Corresponding author Jason Lodge said students scanned commentary in private online chat platforms to clarify tasks and “benchmark their own progress” without risking their classmates’ judgement. “Watching peers navigate their studies via these forums helps students,” Lodge noted on LinkedIn.

This largely happened through “passive” monitoring of large chat groups, the study found. “You don’t have to speak up to benefit,” Lodge stressed. “Even ‘lurking’ helps.”

Participants in smaller chat forums were generally more likely to contribute actively, the study found. “Group chats are valued learning environments where social interactions are at the heart of helping students regulate their learning.”

While earlier research had found that face-to-face student groups often helped in “clarifying conceptual understanding”, online chats appeared “less conducive” to “in-depth” conversations. “Informal chats rarely support deep content discussion,” the researchers reported.

They found that online group chats functioned in “institutional blind spots” despite their “ubiquitous use” by students, who used these “unofficial” study spaces to monitor their progress, develop camaraderie with peers and find motivation in the face of academic challenges.

Universities should examine online group chats for clues on how to improve institutional support services, the researchers said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com