Assessing e-moderation behavior from synchronous discussion protocols with a multi-dimensional methodology

The role of the human instructor in online learning has received increasingly more attention in the e-learning literature. In the present paper we focus on the particular case of human moderation of peer-to-peer debates in educational settings. A multi-dimensional methodology is proposed to identify and characterize different moderation styles in such settings. The method triangulates superficial and qualitative features of both moderation actions as well as the discussion as a whole. The application of this methodology to a sample of synchronous group discussions moderated by assigned peer moderators yielded five distinctively different moderation styles: A scaffolding, an orchestrating, an authoritative, an observing and a participative style. Implications and limitations of the coding methodology are discussed, as well as future directions for research and methodology development.