Knowledge and Community Formation via Cascading Modes of Communication with a Case Study and Research Design

Abstract

This paper introduces a conceptual model called Cascading Modes of Communication (CMC), which is designed by integrating social media and traditional seminars for concurrent formation of community and knowledge. It is inspired by Open Source processes and follows a SECI knowledge creation model. A case study was described to demonstrate how CMC works in professional seminars and a research proposed to validate the design.

Appendices

Appendix A: Professional Seminar Curriculum

The programme for Profession Seminar which was scheduled each month from on 3 selected Saturday was captured in Tables A.1, A.2 and A.3. Seminar I started with an activity planning and introduction to Professional Seminar by Prof Paul Wu, followed by a presentation on the “Trend and Issues of Information Professions” by a panel of invited speakers in the morning. This is followed by a panel discussion on “Leadership, Ethics and Collaborative Culture” with the three speakers who spoke on the previous Professional Seminar in the afternoon session. To prepare students for the panel discussion, they were told to preview last year video recordings of the three speeches which were posted in their e-learning platform.

Table A.1 Programme of Seminar I- Building a vibrant community

Table A.2 Programme of Seminar 2- Moderation sessions

Table A.3 Programme of Seminar 3- Plan ahead and reach out

Mandatory participation in all three seminars was required of all the students enrolled in the course. The interaction carries on beyond the seminar conducted in the physical (offline) space. In between the seminars, the students were required to extend these discussions in the virtual (online) space using blogs, forums and eventually consolidate their viewpoints under the wikis on the e-learning platform.

For Seminar 2, students were to perform moderation duty for the break-out discussion sessions where the students in their groups moved to separate lecture theatres or “ba” to discuss the key take-aways of the Seminar I, identify points to supplement or enhance the speaker’s views or identify diverged areas from the speaker’s views. For each session, five sub-groups were assigned moderation duties. The groups on moderation duty were required to facilitate and moderate the discussions of the other groups as well as consolidate the points that were brought up during the discussions into a 1,200 words report in preparation for the final panel presentation on the third seminar.

For Seminar 3, students were to identify areas of self-improvement in research, communication and career development skills through the series of talks presented in the morning. The Professional Seminar was then concluded with the students engaging the extended community through a 20 min panel presentation of their consolidated group reports to a team of external panellists from the information industry. Lastly, students were expected to turn in a final individual reflection report of 500 words on what they have learned in this Professional Seminar course.

Appendix B: Part of the questionnaire pertaining to model of knowledge at a particular moment of formation pathway, adapted from [11]

(A) Personal Outcome Expectations

• 1. Sharing my knowledge will help me to make friends with other members in the virtual community.

• 2. Sharing my knowledge will give me a feeling of happiness.

• 3. Sharing my knowledge can build up my reputation in the virtual community.

• 4. Sharing my knowledge will give me a sense of accomplishment.

• 5. Sharing my knowledge will strengthen the ties between other members in the virtual community and me.

• 6. Sharing my knowledge will enable me to gain better cooperation from the outstanding members in the virtual community.

• 7. Sharing will ensure that I fulfill the requirements of the course.

• 8. Sharing will enable me to clarify some of my understanding of the subject matter.

(B) Community-Related Outcome Expectations

• 9. Sharing my knowledge will be helpful to the successful functioning of the virtual community.

• 10. Sharing my knowledge would help the community continue its operation in the future.

• 11. Sharing my knowledge would help the community accumulate or enrich knowledge.

• 12. Sharing my knowledge would help the community grow.

• 13. Sharing my knowledge would help the community fulfill the requirements of the course.

(C) Outcome Robustness

• 14. I have experienced some disappointment when I share my knowledge, but I decided that it is worthwhile to press on.

• 15. I have received adverse feedback from other people when I share my knowledge, but I decide to ignore them and continue to share.

• 16. I have experienced moments of confusion but I persevered and came to a better understanding of the course later.

(D) Social Interaction Ties

• 17. I maintain close social relationships with some members in the virtual community.

• 18. I spend a lot of time interacting with some members in the virtual community.

• 19. I know some members in the virtual community on a personal level.

• 20. I have some things in common with many members of the community.

(E) Trust

• 21. Members in the virtual community will not take advantage of others even when the opportunity arises.

• 22. Members in the virtual community will always keep the promises they make to one another.

• 23. Members in the virtual community would not knowingly do anything to disrupt the conversation.

• 24. Members in the virtual community behave in a consistent manner.

• 25. Members in the virtual community are truthful in dealing with one another.

• 26. Members of the community will not deliberately mislead others by providing factually wrong information.

• 27. Members of the community have the requisite competence to make contributions.

(F) Norm of Reciprocity

• 28. I know that other members in the virtual community will help me, so it’s only fair to help other members.

• 29. I believe that members in the virtual community would give me help if I need it.

(G) Altruism

• 30. I enjoy sharing experiences in general; It does not matter whether it is rewarded in any way.

• 31. I think such sharing results in the ‘greater good’ for all.

• 32. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to share what I know, so I try NOT to let this opportunity lapse.

(H) Identification

• 33. I feel a sense of belonging towards the virtual community.

• 34. I feel a sense of togetherness and closeness within the virtual community.

• 35. I have a strong positive feeling toward the virtual community.

• 36. I am proud to be a member of the virtual community.

(I) Shared Language

• 37. The members in the virtual community use common terms or jargons.

• 38. Members in the virtual community use understandable communication patterns during the discussion.

• 39. Members in the virtual community use understandable narrative forms to post messages or articles.

• 40. Members of the virtual community share a common level of understanding of relevant concepts.

(J) Shared Vision

• 41. Members in the virtual community share the vision of helping others solve their professional problems

• 42. Members in the virtual community share the same goal of learning from each other.

• 43. Members in the virtual community share the same value that helping others is pleasant.

• 44. Members in the virtual community share compatible cultures and social norms.

(K) Knowledge Quality

• 45. The knowledge shared by members in the virtual community is relevant to the topics.

• 46. The knowledge shared by members in the virtual community is easy to understand.

• 47. The knowledge shared by members in the virtual community is accurate.

• 48. The knowledge shared by members in the virtual community is complete.

• 49. The knowledge shared by members in the virtual community is reliable.

• 50. The knowledge shared by members in the virtual community is timely.

• 51. The knowledge shared by members in the community is comprehensive.