Methods to Stimulate Discussion
In the courses I am teaching, there is a Discussion Board requirement. The student response to these has been anything but overwhelming. I am looking for ideas that I can use as the instructor (but not developer/designer of the discussion questions) to get students more motivated. About half of the questions are close-ended (yes or no), but the other half could stimulate some healthy discussion.
Thank you for whatever help you can provide.
Jennie
Advanced assignments of a student as the lead of a discussion question might help. Other students can prepare for the discussion question to encourage open discussion. And of course, I agree that we should avoid the closed ended question.
In my own experience, students have tended to mimic the required reading instead of analyzing the thoughts within the concepts. As instructors, we may try to assess the participation grade in accordance with the level of analysis instead of the amount of on line time or amount of typing.
Jennie:
A number of variables could contribute to inadequate participation in Discussion Forums. Definitely, the close-ended questions are a definite contributor. If I were to assume that there is a logical relationship between the learning outcomes and the Discussion questions, as a result of which students will perceive the purpose of the Discussion, and see it as a meaning learning activity; then the only factor that comes to my mind is whether participation in the Discussion Forum is graded (contributes to the student's final grade). If they are graded, then is the number of marks adequate to make it worthwhile for students to participate.
It is a weel known fact that human beings are proned to follow the lines of least resistance---no reward------leass likelihood of expending any effort.
Without seeing all of the course components, it is difficult for me to provide a complete answer. You may also want to check on the student workload for the week in which they have to participate in the Discussion forum. Check also into the number of Discussion questions to which they have to respond.
Satrohan
Learners have to be provided with all the information needed for the discussion or they will feel inadequate to participate freely. Try personalizing your responses as a on-line instructor so students feel inclusive. Open-ended questions will always stimulate some further discussion.
Paula:
I agree that Discussion questions should be written in such a manner that they do not solicit one word answers or extremely short answers. In addition to personalizing your rssponses, what other measures can you take to make participation in Discussion forums a meaningful and revwarding expereince?
Satrohan
Depending on the subject matter being taught, I might require students to find an article or paper online that relates to a specific class topic and post those links on the discussion board. Students would then need to visit one of the websites, (not the one they found), read the material and provide their comments/opinions.
Nori:
This si an excellent strategy to stimulate Discussion, especially if participation in Discussion Forums contribute to the final grade. Along the same lines, perr evaluation o each other's rsponses to specific topics would also expend the discussion thread.
Satrohan
I would find the opportunity to ask for a posting of original thoughts using outside researched resourses in response to open ended questions.
Many courses be adaptable to a reccommended readings list outside text requirements
Joanne:
Quite true; many courses can be adapted to supplementary reading materials. Open ended questions usually generate more participation as there is no worng or right answer; and would certainly generate more original thoughts.
Satrohan
Jennie-
If it is a required component of the course, then I would e-mail non participating students and explain their grade and why it is low. Encourage them to get involved to enhance their grade.
I have found that students are usually unaware of this requirement or do not know where to go to find how to post their response.
Finally--get rid of the yes/no questions.
Kathryn
Jennie--
In an online environment I have tried several ideas that seem to work. For example, in a criminal justice class where the lesson's objective is to discuss our perception I do the following. These get AWESSOME responses:
Really Neat---PLEASE RESPOND....IT IS WORTH YOUR TIME...
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING WITHOUT DOING ANY RESEARCH--JUST REPORT WHAT YOU THINK IS TRUE: NO RESEARCH--THIS IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE..
A person is more likely to be a victim of homicide than of death by diabetes. True or False?
Kathryn
AT THE END OF THE UNIT I WILL POST THE FOLLOWING:
AWESOME!
I really appreciate each of you "playing along" with me this week. The truth is diabetes is much more deadly than homicide. In 2002, diabetes was responsible for 224,092 deaths, and murder was responsible for 16, 229 deaths.
For those of you who got it right, are you in the health field? Does a close friend or family member have diabetes? Typically the students who know the correct answer have some relationship with the health field or know someone who is diabetic. Without this knowledge, we are subject to the world we know. Each night on television, the media will bring us the tragic story of the drive-by shooting that claimed the life of someone. Hardly ever do they tell us the death of Ms. X as a result of complications of her diabetes.
See how strong the media's influence is on us?
Kathryn
For more information on each see:
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DDTSTRS/template/ndfs_2005.pdf
http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/homicide/tables/totalstab.htm
CLASS: PLEASE RESPOND...
JUST TYPE IN WHAT YOU READ....DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT, DO NOT AGONIZE OVER IT...JUST READ THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE QUICKLY AND THEN TYPE WHAT YOU READ...
PARIS IN THE THE SPRING
AT THE END OF THE UNIT I WILL POST THIS TO ALL:
In psychology this term is called "top down processing." It refers to the impact our experiences have on our perception. We "expect" to see "Paris in the spring" so we overlook or simply do not perceive the second "the".
Our thinking (cognitions) impacts our perception of an event.
Consider the following research Subjects in a study watched a video of a car running a stop sign and hitting another car. Subjects were then divided into two groups. Those in Group 1 were asked, "How fast was the first car going when it hit the second car?" The subjects in the second group were asked, "How fast was the first car going when it smashed into the second car?"
Which group estimated about 20 miles per hour faster? Why?
Yes, Group 2 estimated about 20 miles per hour faster than group 1 because their perception was manipulated by the phrasing of the question, "smashed" vs "hit".
Our perception of an event is often altered by our preconceived notions, and even our occupations. For example, police officers are better at telling when someone is on drugs than a normal lay person because he/she has experience with people on drugs. In United States v Ortiz, 422 U.S. 891 (1975), the Supreme Court ruled police officers are better qualified than the average person in the street to evaluate certain facts and circumstances. So, what might not amount to probable cause to the average person on the street might be sufficient for probable cause for a police officer because of the officer s training and experience (Del Carmen, 2004).
Kathryn
Kathryn,
Thank you for sharing these examples of nonthreatening ways to encourage participation in an online discussion. The responses illustrate points you are making in your class, but do not require heavy reading or homework.
Our program tried to begin giving points or extra credit for forum involvement. It started as a great idea that we developed but never implemented once we starting talking about the subjectiveness of measuring a grade on forum/chat involvement. It is a difficult process to get students to participate without grades. I had the same issues in the classroom. There are those students who sit up front and answer everything, and those that sit in the back and hope not to be questioned. It is similar, just more noticeable online.
Amy:
You can significantly reduce the subjectiveness in grading participating in asynchronous Discussion forums by using Rubrics. Personally, I would not use Chat sessions for any learning activity that contributes to a student's final grade.
Satrohan
I agree. We discussed using it for extra credit as well. We have increased the times per week a student should log in by making several different due dates throughout the week. It seems to break up the last minute questions that often arise Sunday evening.
This is definitely a good practice Amy. It helps to pace the student's activities. We have tried this in university settings and have received negative feedback. Far too many students complained about the lack of flexibility that characterizes online learning. I strongly believe that the reason for the negative feedback is because the institution did not set the student expectations upfront in their marketing matrials, course descriptions, course syllabus etc.
The situation is more manageable when the expectations are set upfront and managed properly. This is a touchy issue and can have severe implications; especially on Instructors' contracts to teach online, and the institution's ability to generate their projected revenue. Some institutions avoid setting expectations in a detailed manner upfront because they feel that it will lower enrollments; so they move forward and then try to do damage control by requesting the Instrucotrs to do whatever it takes to maintain student retention. Thisleads to a significant increase in the number of hours Instructors have to spend online, and of course impact the agreed upon compensation.
Satrohan
Jennie:
We also require that our online students participate in weekly discussion forums.
We require an initial post that answers the discussion question and should be posted by Thursday of each week. We then require them to respond to two of their fellow classmates' postings by Sunday of each week.
I provide all students with a discussion rubric that I used when grading weekly discussions.
I also participate in the weekly forums and try to respond to two or three different postings each night and will either provide feedback to each student or ask additional questions if it is not felt that all of the components of the discussion question was answered.
We try to avoid yes or no questions and try to use questions that foster communication amongst myself and my students.
Kim
You have provided some terrific suggestions Kim. I agree it is important to provide students with a rubric explaining how you are grading the discussions. It is my experience that some students think that just responding to a discussion means they will get full points, but it is important to grade on the quality of the response.
It is very important for the instructor to respond to the postings for a variety of reasons. First, it lets students know that you are reading their postings. Second, it provides the teacher an opportunity to ask follow up questions to make sure the student understands the material.
Thanks for your great response Kim.
To get students more motivated, I ask them to post substantive replies to other student's DB posts and define what a substantive reply is. I note that a substantive reply requires them to respond with about a paragraph response to a point that another student is making - or to a DQ follow up question that I ask - relating something said to their own personal experience and/or elaborating upon a point made. This strategy has been very effective for me at encouraging maximum participation and information sharing. I tell students that this is the best way we learn from each other as we all have different backgrounds!
Mark McMullen
What I have seen as being effective are questions that not only focus on the research and application but also address personal experience and personal deduction. Asking students to not only report what they have learned but how to apply that knowledge can be a very powerful tool. Sometimes the trick as the professor is to focus them to make those connections without making those connections for them.
