The Impact of Assigned Roles and Cross-Age Peer Tutors on Knowledge Elaboration, Knowledge Convergence, and Group Performance in Synchronous Online Learning Environment

In this chapter, the impact of assigned roles and cross-age peer tutors on knowledge elaboration, knowledge convergence, and learning performance in synchronous online learning environment are investigated. Four fundamental roles were selected: information searcher, explainer, coordinator, and summarizer. The graduate students were designated as cross-age peer tutors, and they were randomly assigned to each group. The knowledge map analytical approach was adopted to analyze and calculate the level of knowledge elaboration and knowledge convergence. The results indicated that there were significant differences in the level of knowledge elaboration and knowledge convergence between the assigned roles groups and group neither roles nor tutors. The significant differences between the group with tutors and the group neither roles nor tutors were also found in the level of knowledge elaboration and knowledge convergence. However, there was no significant difference in group performance among these three conditions. The implications for educators and practitioners as well as future directions are discussed in detail.