How Students Emerge as Learning Leaders in a Small-Group Online Discussion: The Role of Leadership Styles and Learner Engagement

• In Event: Considerations in Distance Learning

Abstract

This study aims to examine the role of leadership styles and multi-dimensional learner engagement in explaining how students became learning leaders in the context of asynchronous online discussions. To that end, we tested a conceptual framework, building on the Leader Identification Method (LIM)–that defines three leader roles (i.e., full, transactional, and attractive facilitator) and leadership theory–that focuses on transformational and transactional leadership styles. The data were collected from 20 students who enrolled in a graduate-level online course in which they participated in 12-week discussion activities. The longitudinal data analyses show that transformational leadership and active participation in online discussions are significant factors that enable students to become leaders.

Authors

• Min Kyu Kim, Georgia State University

• In Heok Lee, University of Georgia

• Yinying Wang, Georgia State University