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This site exists as a repository for my evolving thoughts and quotations about transactional distance in online learning.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Transactional Distance Theory
What is Transactional Distance Theory?
The concept of Transactional Distance Theory (TDT) was developed by Michael G. Moore. Prior to the development of this concept, definitions of distance education revolved around the physical separation of the teacher and the learner. Moore, however, postulates that TDT is concerned more with pedagogy than with geography.
According to Martindale (2002), "'transactional distance' requires a learner, teacher, and a communication channel" (p.4). Teaching situations involving different transactional distances require different or specialized instructional techniques.
There are three key variables to consider regarding transactional distance: structure, dialogue, and learner autonomy. Structure is determined by the actual design of the course, the organization of the instruction, and the use of various media of communications. There are also different forms of dialogue: two-way, real-time communication versus dialogue internalized within the student. Finally, learner autonomy depends upon the individual learner's sense of personal responsibility and self-directedness. Depending on the individuals involved, the interaction of these elements can be very different and vary greatly along the continuum. For example, high levels of learner autonomy would neccessitate lower levels of teacher control. An instructional situation is considered more distant if there are lesser amounts of dialogue among the participants and less structure. For less distant situations, the converse is true.
In essence this theory deals with the cognitive process of idea transmission including concepts of encoding, decoding, reception, perception, transmission and noise.... Transactional distance is positively related to the size of the learning group, familiarity of language and dialects, the qualities of the medium through which the signal is transmitted. These include issues of noise, speed, and lag. This theory includes internal didactic conversations as proposed by Holmberg. In this case the learning material becomes the stimulus for dialog that occurs within the learner and this produces learning.... A textbook and study guide with only internal dialogue would be considered to have a high transactional distance. A synchronous discussion done through audio conferencing would be lower. (Martindale, 2002, p. 5)
Theories such as TDT are "invaluable in guiding the complex practice of a rational process such as teaching and learning at a distance" (Garrison, 2000, p.3). For more information, refer to the resources below.
Some Resources:
Chen, Yau-Jane,Willits, Fern K. (1998). "A Path Analysis of the Concepts in Moore's Theory of Transactional Distance in a Videoconferencing Learning Environment." Journal of Distance Education. 13 (2) pp.51-65, 1998.
Cookson, P. S., and Chang, Y. (1995). "The multidimensional audioconferencing classification system (MACS)." The American Journal of Distance Education. 9 (3), 18-36.
Garrison, Randy. (2000). "Theoretical Challenges for Distance Education in the 21st Century: A Shift from Structural to Transactional Issues." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 1 (1) June, 2000.
Gayol, Yolanda. (1999). Exploring the quality of the educational design of international virtual graduate programs: a new model of evaluation. The Pennsylvania State University.
Keegan, Desmond, Ed.(1993). "Theoretical Principles of Distance Education." Routledge, New York.
Martindale, Neil. (2002). The Cycle of Oppression and Distance Education. Athabasca University. February, 2002.
Moore, M & Kearsly, G. (1996). Distance education a system view. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Mueller, Chris. (1997). "Transactional Distance." The Ultimate Instant Online Encyclopedia.
Peters, O. (1998). Learning and teaching in distance education: Analysis and interpretation from an international perspective. London: Kogan Page.
If you would like to contribute more resources or information, please contact us.
http://cde.athabascau.ca/cmc/transactional.html
The concept of Transactional Distance Theory (TDT) was developed by Michael G. Moore. Prior to the development of this concept, definitions of distance education revolved around the physical separation of the teacher and the learner. Moore, however, postulates that TDT is concerned more with pedagogy than with geography.
According to Martindale (2002), "'transactional distance' requires a learner, teacher, and a communication channel" (p.4). Teaching situations involving different transactional distances require different or specialized instructional techniques.
There are three key variables to consider regarding transactional distance: structure, dialogue, and learner autonomy. Structure is determined by the actual design of the course, the organization of the instruction, and the use of various media of communications. There are also different forms of dialogue: two-way, real-time communication versus dialogue internalized within the student. Finally, learner autonomy depends upon the individual learner's sense of personal responsibility and self-directedness. Depending on the individuals involved, the interaction of these elements can be very different and vary greatly along the continuum. For example, high levels of learner autonomy would neccessitate lower levels of teacher control. An instructional situation is considered more distant if there are lesser amounts of dialogue among the participants and less structure. For less distant situations, the converse is true.
In essence this theory deals with the cognitive process of idea transmission including concepts of encoding, decoding, reception, perception, transmission and noise.... Transactional distance is positively related to the size of the learning group, familiarity of language and dialects, the qualities of the medium through which the signal is transmitted. These include issues of noise, speed, and lag. This theory includes internal didactic conversations as proposed by Holmberg. In this case the learning material becomes the stimulus for dialog that occurs within the learner and this produces learning.... A textbook and study guide with only internal dialogue would be considered to have a high transactional distance. A synchronous discussion done through audio conferencing would be lower. (Martindale, 2002, p. 5)
Theories such as TDT are "invaluable in guiding the complex practice of a rational process such as teaching and learning at a distance" (Garrison, 2000, p.3). For more information, refer to the resources below.
Some Resources:
Chen, Yau-Jane,Willits, Fern K. (1998). "A Path Analysis of the Concepts in Moore's Theory of Transactional Distance in a Videoconferencing Learning Environment." Journal of Distance Education. 13 (2) pp.51-65, 1998.
Cookson, P. S., and Chang, Y. (1995). "The multidimensional audioconferencing classification system (MACS)." The American Journal of Distance Education. 9 (3), 18-36.
Garrison, Randy. (2000). "Theoretical Challenges for Distance Education in the 21st Century: A Shift from Structural to Transactional Issues." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 1 (1) June, 2000.
Gayol, Yolanda. (1999). Exploring the quality of the educational design of international virtual graduate programs: a new model of evaluation. The Pennsylvania State University.
Keegan, Desmond, Ed.(1993). "Theoretical Principles of Distance Education." Routledge, New York.
Martindale, Neil. (2002). The Cycle of Oppression and Distance Education. Athabasca University. February, 2002.
Moore, M & Kearsly, G. (1996). Distance education a system view. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Mueller, Chris. (1997). "Transactional Distance." The Ultimate Instant Online Encyclopedia.
Peters, O. (1998). Learning and teaching in distance education: Analysis and interpretation from an international perspective. London: Kogan Page.
If you would like to contribute more resources or information, please contact us.
http://cde.athabascau.ca/cmc/transactional.html
Definition
Research Problem
This study seeks to inquire into how student-content, student-teacher, student-student, and student-interface interactions are transacted in an asynchronous, text-based online learning environment, and to what degree if at all (or if any), these online interactions contribute to student perceptions/expectations of the quality of their online learning experiences.
This study seeks to inquire into how student-content, student-teacher, student-student, and student-interface interactions are transacted in an asynchronous, text-based online learning environment, and to what degree if at all (or if any), these online interactions contribute to transactional distance in their online learning experiences.
This study seeks to inquire into the nature of student-content, student-teacher, student-student, and student-interface interactions in an asynchronous, text-based online learning environment, and how contextual factors impact/effect/influence levels of transactional distance.
I am now working on the distance education dissertation, study the interactions in a NT Survey class which Moody Bible Institute has offered SBC. I am exploring how the four types of interactions found in online learning - learner-content, learner-teacher, learner-learner and learner-interface impact levels of transactional distance in this class. Transactional
distance is not just a spatial distance, it is also a psychological-social distance which is felt between participants.
This study seeks to inquire into the factors which influence
This study seeks to inquire into how student-content, student-teacher, student-student, and student-interface interactions are transacted in an asynchronous, text-based online learning environment, and to what degree if at all (or if any), these online interactions contribute to transactional distance in their online learning experiences.
This study seeks to inquire into the nature of student-content, student-teacher, student-student, and student-interface interactions in an asynchronous, text-based online learning environment, and how contextual factors impact/effect/influence levels of transactional distance.
I am now working on the distance education dissertation, study the interactions in a NT Survey class which Moody Bible Institute has offered SBC. I am exploring how the four types of interactions found in online learning - learner-content, learner-teacher, learner-learner and learner-interface impact levels of transactional distance in this class. Transactional
distance is not just a spatial distance, it is also a psychological-social distance which is felt between participants.
This study seeks to inquire into the factors which influence
Possible categories/factors
Fear
Motivation
Mentorship
Convenience
Interactivity
Natural rhythms of semester
Feedback
Social Presence
Curiosity with technology
Cultural background
Hope
Demanding amount of course work
Busy work
Disappointment/frustration with workload
Desire to get good grades
Interest in course topic
Class size, group size
Combo of online and face to face
View as break
Compressed course (4 credits into 2)
Curricular choices of teacher
Negotiation by students
Flexibility of Rules of engagement
Ambivalence towards rules/conventions/expectations
Level of expectations
Projected expectations
Vision for future
Sacrifice/sympathy
Going extra mile
Peer feedback
Teacher feedback – immediate, timely, expectations
Significance of dialogue – content related, social related
Assigned tasks
Questions
Motivation
Mentorship
Convenience
Interactivity
Natural rhythms of semester
Feedback
Social Presence
Curiosity with technology
Cultural background
Hope
Demanding amount of course work
Busy work
Disappointment/frustration with workload
Desire to get good grades
Interest in course topic
Class size, group size
Combo of online and face to face
View as break
Compressed course (4 credits into 2)
Curricular choices of teacher
Negotiation by students
Flexibility of Rules of engagement
Ambivalence towards rules/conventions/expectations
Level of expectations
Projected expectations
Vision for future
Sacrifice/sympathy
Going extra mile
Peer feedback
Teacher feedback – immediate, timely, expectations
Significance of dialogue – content related, social related
Assigned tasks
Questions
Mentorship - Martinez and Wolf. 2003.
Martinez Witte, Maria, and Sara E. Wolf. 2003. Infusing mentoring and technology within graduate courses: Reflections in practice. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning 11 (1):95-103.
How on teacher deals with it: Through mentorship
eg
WebCT has been the primary course material delivery mechanism for a series of three classes developed at a large southeastern university. Reflecting on this form of computer-mediated communication has provided relevancy in describing effective mentoring practices. While the courses meet regularly in a face-to-face environment, class discussions, administrative communication, student collaboration, class presentations, and other forms of content-delivery are mediated through the tools available in WebCT. On the part of the instructor, the mentoring role is similar to Mullen’s (2000) collaborative mentoring model described as ‘practitioner centered, experiential and research oriented, reflective, and empowering’ (p. 4). The instructor uses several processes to reflect on practice within the classroom. These include professional dialogue in order to identify technological problems that impact instruction as well as discussions concerning the authenticity of specific work-product assignments within a course. Also, the instructor is part of a campus community of
WebCT users. This community of adopters regularly conducts e-mail exchanges, informal conversations, and brainstorming sessions concerning the potential use of specific tools within WebCT for particular courses. However, the most important tools of reflection available to the instructor are daily personal journaling activities that document successes, failures, challenges, and solutions; and the feedback from students enrolled in the courses. Through the personal reflections of the participants within each learning experience, the instructor can identify patterns of things that work and do not work, as well as emotional factors that influence success or failure at a student level. (p99)
In a mentoring capacity, the instructor employs various interactions that include the communication tools within WebCT, structured activities in class to orient students to the interface, and keeping the specifics of certain projects flexible within the bounds of the course objectives. The instructor and students utilise electronic mail in order to communicate about class announcements, to ask questions clarifying content covered in class, or to arrange group meetings for team projects.
Students are asked to make contributions to the discussion board (an electronic bulletin board feature) by introducing themselves to the other members of the class, discussing current topics as they arise in the course of the semester, and providing feedback to their peers about work completed as part of in-class activities and discussions. For instance, the instructor frequently has students navigate to online locations containing both poor and exemplary examples of work-products similar to those being developed for class. Students are then asked to analyse them and report back to the class so that patterns of quality can be identified as well as generalisations concerning scope and format made. These interactions help to decrease the transactional distance between student and peers and between the students and the instructor, since they can be accessible regardless of time or place. Also, these practices assist in fostering interaction with the content since students must access various outside resources at times in order to evaluate and synthesise information from a variety of sources.
Student–interface was approached in a graduated manner. For the first class, elements were used within WebCT that paralleled the everyday lives of each of the students. Primarily, this included the e-mail feature, the discussion board, and the ability to access outside websites from the class site. However, as each semester progressed, new tools were added to the repertoire of the students and the instructor, thus modelling the importance of being a continuous learner, another characteristic of a good mentor.
For instance, during the first semester the instructor primarily used WebCT for document delivery (syllabus, handouts, etc.), basic administrative communication (changes in the schedule, answering group questions about assignments, etc.), personal communication with students (setting appointments, troubleshooting technical issues, etc.), and as a way to organise xternal websites for use during class instruction or discussion. During the second semester the instructor expanded the document delivery element to include providing examples of work-products the students would produce, utilised the discussion board feature to post student work from in-class activities, and encouraged the use of the chat-room feature for student collaboration on project planning activities. The third semester course (taught during the summer term) saw a continued expansion of the electronic communications tools, the use of student responses to posts on the discussion board as a part of the overall evaluation of student learning, and included the first instance of direct student input into course materials used in
the evaluation of student products (rubric design) as well as use of the online quizzing feature to evaluate student understanding of class readings. Currently, these courses have begun another cycle of instruction. For the first time, the instructor has utilised the chat-room for a virtual guest speaker experience. Also, students are being placed in the roles of facilitators of discussion postings for class readings. (100-101)
How on teacher deals with it: Through mentorship
eg
WebCT has been the primary course material delivery mechanism for a series of three classes developed at a large southeastern university. Reflecting on this form of computer-mediated communication has provided relevancy in describing effective mentoring practices. While the courses meet regularly in a face-to-face environment, class discussions, administrative communication, student collaboration, class presentations, and other forms of content-delivery are mediated through the tools available in WebCT. On the part of the instructor, the mentoring role is similar to Mullen’s (2000) collaborative mentoring model described as ‘practitioner centered, experiential and research oriented, reflective, and empowering’ (p. 4). The instructor uses several processes to reflect on practice within the classroom. These include professional dialogue in order to identify technological problems that impact instruction as well as discussions concerning the authenticity of specific work-product assignments within a course. Also, the instructor is part of a campus community of
WebCT users. This community of adopters regularly conducts e-mail exchanges, informal conversations, and brainstorming sessions concerning the potential use of specific tools within WebCT for particular courses. However, the most important tools of reflection available to the instructor are daily personal journaling activities that document successes, failures, challenges, and solutions; and the feedback from students enrolled in the courses. Through the personal reflections of the participants within each learning experience, the instructor can identify patterns of things that work and do not work, as well as emotional factors that influence success or failure at a student level. (p99)
In a mentoring capacity, the instructor employs various interactions that include the communication tools within WebCT, structured activities in class to orient students to the interface, and keeping the specifics of certain projects flexible within the bounds of the course objectives. The instructor and students utilise electronic mail in order to communicate about class announcements, to ask questions clarifying content covered in class, or to arrange group meetings for team projects.
Students are asked to make contributions to the discussion board (an electronic bulletin board feature) by introducing themselves to the other members of the class, discussing current topics as they arise in the course of the semester, and providing feedback to their peers about work completed as part of in-class activities and discussions. For instance, the instructor frequently has students navigate to online locations containing both poor and exemplary examples of work-products similar to those being developed for class. Students are then asked to analyse them and report back to the class so that patterns of quality can be identified as well as generalisations concerning scope and format made. These interactions help to decrease the transactional distance between student and peers and between the students and the instructor, since they can be accessible regardless of time or place. Also, these practices assist in fostering interaction with the content since students must access various outside resources at times in order to evaluate and synthesise information from a variety of sources.
Student–interface was approached in a graduated manner. For the first class, elements were used within WebCT that paralleled the everyday lives of each of the students. Primarily, this included the e-mail feature, the discussion board, and the ability to access outside websites from the class site. However, as each semester progressed, new tools were added to the repertoire of the students and the instructor, thus modelling the importance of being a continuous learner, another characteristic of a good mentor.
For instance, during the first semester the instructor primarily used WebCT for document delivery (syllabus, handouts, etc.), basic administrative communication (changes in the schedule, answering group questions about assignments, etc.), personal communication with students (setting appointments, troubleshooting technical issues, etc.), and as a way to organise xternal websites for use during class instruction or discussion. During the second semester the instructor expanded the document delivery element to include providing examples of work-products the students would produce, utilised the discussion board feature to post student work from in-class activities, and encouraged the use of the chat-room feature for student collaboration on project planning activities. The third semester course (taught during the summer term) saw a continued expansion of the electronic communications tools, the use of student responses to posts on the discussion board as a part of the overall evaluation of student learning, and included the first instance of direct student input into course materials used in
the evaluation of student products (rubric design) as well as use of the online quizzing feature to evaluate student understanding of class readings. Currently, these courses have begun another cycle of instruction. For the first time, the instructor has utilised the chat-room for a virtual guest speaker experience. Also, students are being placed in the roles of facilitators of discussion postings for class readings. (100-101)
Short list of researchers working on transactional distance
Chen, Yau-Jane. 2001. Dimensions of transactional distance in the world wide web learning environment: A factor analysis. British Journal of Educational Technology 32 (4):459-470.
———. 2001. Transactional distance in World Wide Web learning environments. Innovations in Education & Teaching International 38 (4):327-338.
Huang, Hsiu-Mei. 2002. Student perceptions in an online mediated environment. International Journal of Instructional Media 29 (4):405-422.
Jung, Insung. 2001. Building a theoretical framework of web-based instruction in the context of distance education. British Journal of Educational Technology 32 (5):525-534.
Kanuka, Heather, Dave Collett, and Cynthia Caswell. 2002. University instructor perceptions of the use of asynchronous text-based discussion in distance courses. American Journal of Distance Education 16 (3):151-167.
Lally, Vic, and Elizabeth Barrett. 1999. Building a learning community on-line: Towards socio-academic interaction. Research Papers in Education 14 (2):147-163.
Martinez Witte, Maria, and Sara E. Wolf. 2003. Infusing mentoring and technology within graduate courses: Reflections in practice. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning 11 (1):95-103.
Shannon, Donna M. 2002. Effective teacher behaviors and Michael Moore's theory of transactional distance. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science 43 (1):43-47.
———. 2001. Transactional distance in World Wide Web learning environments. Innovations in Education & Teaching International 38 (4):327-338.
Huang, Hsiu-Mei. 2002. Student perceptions in an online mediated environment. International Journal of Instructional Media 29 (4):405-422.
Jung, Insung. 2001. Building a theoretical framework of web-based instruction in the context of distance education. British Journal of Educational Technology 32 (5):525-534.
Kanuka, Heather, Dave Collett, and Cynthia Caswell. 2002. University instructor perceptions of the use of asynchronous text-based discussion in distance courses. American Journal of Distance Education 16 (3):151-167.
Lally, Vic, and Elizabeth Barrett. 1999. Building a learning community on-line: Towards socio-academic interaction. Research Papers in Education 14 (2):147-163.
Martinez Witte, Maria, and Sara E. Wolf. 2003. Infusing mentoring and technology within graduate courses: Reflections in practice. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning 11 (1):95-103.
Shannon, Donna M. 2002. Effective teacher behaviors and Michael Moore's theory of transactional distance. Journal of Education for Library & Information Science 43 (1):43-47.
