Perceptions of Social Loafing in Online Learning

Perceptions of Social Loafing in Online Learning Groups: A study of Public University and U.S. Naval War College students, an article in the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning discusses research done on social loafing and whether it is evident in on line learning.  Social loafing is the idea that if learners are put together in groups, members of that group will decrease their effort and rely on their partners to do the work.

The researchers wanted to know if social loafing does existed in online learning and, if so, what were the effects of task visibility (professor able to see individual effort), distributive justice and individual personality on social loafing.

The researchers studied 227 online learning students. The students were enrolled in an online course, which included group projects. At the end of the course they were given a questionnaire with 43 questions.  

The results showed that social loafing was a perceived problem and that task visibility had an impact on the amount of social loafing and on the perceived fairness of the course.

I think most educators understand this concept in the classroom but as we move toward creating online, out of class projects we need to understand the concept presented in this research.

Perceptions of Social Loafing in Online Learning Groups: A study of Public University and U.S. Naval War College students

Piezon, S., & Ferree, W. 2008 Mar 6. Perceptions of Social Loafing in Online Learning Groups: A study of Public University and U.S. Naval War College students. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning [Online] 9:2. Available: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/484/1053