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Topic: A study to determine the effectiveness of “Brainstorming” as a teaching strategy in an Online Synchronous Environment Author: Susan Mathew Year: 2008-2009 Abstract: Brainstorming is known to be a largely different and unorthodox strategy employed increasingly in the world today. Unlike any other deductive teaching technique, brainstorming is limitless in the extent to which it allows the brainstormer to think. Often the face-to-face setting is thought of as the best environment in which brainstorming can take place. However, the effort to check the effectiveness of brainstorming in an online synchronous environment was made in order to understand whether brainstorming could be taken beyond the boundaries of a physical classroom and into the realm of distance education where distance separates the learners and the instructors from each other. Objective of the research was:
This research has been an example of pre-experimental research where cluster sampling was used. For the sake of convenience, the sample was divided into 2 groups and the same treatment was carried out with both groups. The purpose of making smaller groups was to adhere to brainstorming guidelines. The tool used for synchronous communication was Dabbleboard - an online collaborative white board where participants could write out their ideas for others to see and build off. To supplement this tool, online chat tools were used as well. There was a summing up session at the end of the brainstorming period at which point, participants were inidicated the new concepts that their ideas generated. An achievement test was used at the end to check for mastery learning. In addition to the achievement test, an opinionnaire was provided as well to rate the aspects of the brainstorming session thereby understanding the factors that may have hindered effective learning. In conclusion, online synchronous brainstorming was effective in achieving the objectives but was partly unsuccessful in the achievement of mastery learning due to external technological factors such as internet connectivity that affected smooth and efficient communication. These limitations were noticed to be the basic difference between online and face-to-face environments
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