Thank you everyone, for these ideas. Some of them I had never thought to do before. I would say, though, that some students will never give you the I agree and some will only do that.
You are doing a wonderful job. Love playing devil's advocate!!! It makes the student think...even if they are not talking about it. You made them think! Good job Susan!
David, at the school where I teach we mandate that all responses to others must meet a 100 word minimum length in order to receive full credit.
Once you start deducting points for short responses to others, it becomes clear to students that they need to improve and improve they do!!
Too bad that we have to resort to this form of rules but unfortunately there are always those in class, live or online, who always want to do the minimum and expect full credit.
I believe that the foundation of the assignment must include thought provoking questions. Sometimes the assignments do not lend to more than "I agree."
Love these ideas. It is hard to make students write down their thoughts and ideas. You have worded the directions so well.
One of my professors in my doctoral program provided feedback on the quality and content of each post. Requirement was for 3 post of a reading highlighting content and then to also repond to 3 post by others.
Believe this worked and ensured a standard of posting and also adding to the learning experience of all students in the class.
Kenneth,
I the requirement of a certain amount of posts. There needs to be professionalism as well....no texting lingo!!
Shelly Crider
Dr. Crider,
Agree regarding no texting lingo and to be professional. One technique I used was to type the post in word and cut and paste into the forum--helps with spelling and adds professionalism to the thread with an opportunity to review to ensure the comment is clear and supports the discussion ongoing.
Kenneth,
Most students will try to get away with what they can, and they like texting lingo!!
Shelly Crider
We establish a word requirement for each online module. Students must have 250, 500, 1000 total word count in all posts (depending on the course). Students are required to respond to the instructor and comment on a given number of student posts, using complete sentences and citing references to support their comments. A rubric is provided to the students at the beginning of the class explaining these requirements- and it works.
Robin,
There should be a word requirement. This will push the student to research the topic a bit more.
Shelly Crider
