Communication and the Discussion board area
How would you encourage your students to communicate more with their fellow students on the topics for the week. For example, many times I get responses from other students to each other "good job" and that's it. Any ideas on how to get the students to communicate more in a discussion board forum instead of just a few words?
Carolyn,
I use a rubric for assessing their posts and "good job" results in 0 points. I also provide examples of good posts and poor posts in my syllabus. Hope this is helpful.
I generally remind students that their responses and or initial postings should meet a certain word length. Then, I like to pose a few questions to the students to get them thinking about how they can respond to their peers more effectively. For example: “What parts of your classmate’s posting made the biggest impact on you and why?†Sometimes students simply don’t know what to say or they may feel that their response won’t be any good. Asking a question may help them to think about their response from a different perspective.
Donna,
Have you tried using or providing a rubric for the discussion board postings? I also give examples in the syllabus that demonstrates a good and poor discussion board post. Thanks for your input.
I would love to see an example of the rubric that you use for Discussion Board posts.
I tell my students that they need to add some new information to the conversation either from their own experience or from research. They can also challenge the perspective of their classmate by offering a different one or asking questions about their post. I suggest that if they do ask questions that they say why they are asking.
They lose points if they just compliment their classmate's post and basically repeat it.
While I do not do the word count, I do remind the students that their posts are graded on substance. I encourage more in-depth responded by asking specific questions.
I also follow the rubric and offer detailed feedback as to the number of points students earn for a given post.
Throughout the course I remind my students about the importance of the online discussion board. Almost immediately students realize their peers' comments can be truly valuable and insightful. I am also very specific as to what is not acceptable, and for what reason.
Kym,
I can't attach anything here, but if you email me at tbcrews@gmail.com, I'll share my DB rubrics with you. You may also want to check out the MK Lounge. I may have already posted some there, I can't remember. Sounds like you are on the right track though.
Thanks!
Agnes,
A rubric for the discussion board posts helps me and my students the most. I also give examples in the syllabus about what a good/bad post looks like. Thanks for sharing.
I use rubrics also. This has helped tremendously. Most students now post at least three to five sentences which makes it possible to "communicate". Before, students may have posted one or two sentences and I felt like they were just trying to get something posted. Now,with their better understanding through a rubric, I feel like they are communicating better and everyone has a chance to learn more.
Pamela Asbury
Pamela ,
Thrilled that you have found rubrics tremendously helpful. You must have some good ones developed. Nice job.
I use our rubric that is posted in the syllabus. It allows 10 points for the students main reply if it completely answers the question asked, and consists of more than 5 lines. Every post thereafter will be anywhere from 0-5 points depending on content and length for a total of 20 points. I find this helps the student know why they received lower points when they do not have complete answers.
Gail G.
Gail ,
Interesting. Why the more then 5 lines regulation? Thanks!
