Dr.  Stephanie's Knight's work on "Enriching the CLC Experience" touches on a topic that is not often elaborated on however is of high importance. In an age where many of our students use technology to communicate, when high stakes pressure is placed on academic communication via a CLC- setting many experience stress. 

This paper touches on the most importance aspect of success within a CLC of which is "nurturing" by the instructor. When the instructor nurtures the CLC learning relationship, students stress levels decrease and learning increases.  Thank you Dr. Knight for providing your work here for us as online instructors to gain valuable insight on. 

Dr. Knight's paper provides an important starting point for more dialog on the CLC challenge. As someone working in a collectivist context for over twenty-five years, CLCs are very important to success. In Africa, group learning is normative. In the US context, group learning is the exception. Culture and worldview from an individual focus is the greatest challenge to CLC collaboration. The topic then is very important and the subject matter is logically detailed in this paper. I think it is an important contribution.

Having said that, there were several items I find distracting as I read the paper. I find that when I am reading and there are distracting issues, I sometimes miss content strengths because of the structural and mechanical deficiencies. First, it needs to be edited as there are some syntactical/grammatical items that do not read well. Second, some of the citations lack page numbers or dates. The first part of the paper contains a few of these. It seems to be better as one gets deeper into the paper.

I think more editorial work and a strict adherence to style will strengthen the paper. Once this is rectified, I can give more adequate feedback on content.

Dr. Stephen Jester

The CLC topic is unique as it is often a forgotten one. Kudos to Dr. Knight for addressing this social problem! This study addresses and answers the research question: “How can students in online small groups move from merely communicating in their small group’s forum to truly cooperating?” Pros and cons have been identified. One of the most difficult challenges is forming/coming together as a team discussed is the lack of face-to-face interaction. May I suggest that coming together as a team may also be influenced by the short duration of online courses? Once the numerous citation issues, run-on sentences, and verbiage have been addressed, I look forward to reading the final product.

This paper provides an interesting proposal to improve learning in an online environment based on previous research conducted on group dynamics.  Although students are quoted, the author does not propose additional research which could be conducted to validate the proposed techniques for improved learning.  Perhaps one class using the proposed techniques could be compared to a class not using these techniques.

As others have noted, the citations are not in APA format and need to be properly formatted.  In one case, the author attributes an idea to one author and then cites two different authors at the end of the sentence.  There are some awkwardly written sentences as well.  With some revision, this paper may be helpful to others teaching in an online environment.

Many students cringe at the idea of group work and look forward to the adjourning stage--a stage that is often overlooked.  The final stage of Tuckman's model is worth exploring.  Though members have disengaged at this point, they have learned critical skills needed to survive future group interaction.  However, you discussed some great points that mimic the positive aspects of face-to-face communication.  And, if properly executed by instructors and students successful group development and experiences could be achieved.

Most students are comfortable with the concept of the CLC, but it is the differing work ethics of individuals that have become the issue that I have seen.  Designating a leader has helped, and checking in on the individual groups does encourage interaction.

The positive comments from students is important. I do like the idea of trying to put students in similar time zones also, that would be helpful

I do have to agree with the above comments,  citations should be fomratted for APA.

I believe this is a topic that truly needs addressing.  My experience with another online university is a little different than here at GCU and several of the needs I addressed during orientation as I felt the experience for the student as well as the instructor was lacking. While my particular course does not have a CLC group assignment I personally would like to share my experiences working on team assignments. As instructors we know the students who will become the leader and those who will be the followers within the classroom. During my experience roles were changed each week to allow students to use their strengths and manage weakness. As a CLC, students have to understand the challenges and work to achieve cohesion, which can be done if the rules are outline within a online assignment contract. I ask my students to create a more personal experience with cohorts as most of those cohorts will be in their respective programs until graduation. There is a need void that has to be filled as one would have within campus setting. I read end of course feedback to know where I need to improve also. 

Dr. Angela Parker 

Greetings and thanks for your insight on the topic. I remember being assigned to group projects and having a sinking feeling.  Being a bit OCD, the stress level was a bit high.

My only suggestions are related to sources.  I find that I use Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/) quite a bit.

Best wishes.

Dave