Challenges of Discussion Threads
As much as I think the discussion threads are a wonderful means for all to communication within the online class setting, I also feel they pose a lot of challenges. As the instructor, I have often find it difficult to engage the students in a conversation. I find a lot of learners come in to the discussion, post what they are required for the week then never return. In an effort to deter this type of behavior, I now include in my class policies that I may ask questions in response to their discussion posts. They should respond to these questions by the end of the week and points will be deducted from their discussion grade for the week if they do not. I find this encourages the student to check back and be more interactive within in the discussions.
Ellen,
I agree. Everything poses challenges and we have to do our best to motivate all students. One thing I have found to work for me is to assign a different student or pair of students to summarize the thread of discussion posts periodically (every week or every three days or whatever works for you). I assign participation points for this. Nice job.
The challenges I see are those who do not have a command of a vocabulary, the short responses are an indication of a lack of verbal skills, the lack of practicing writing skills.
Marshall,
Keep them practicing. You may also want to use a wiki to have students develop project or writing so that everyone can edit and provide constructive criticism. Help students view it as a learning experience. Thanks!
That would be helpful, but some institutions do not allow extra credit activities or extra participation points. What would you substitute?
Lois,
Just make it a part of their participation grade and extra points.
Ellen,
Good policy that generally works. Another idea just to throw around is the possibility of having a student each week be responsible for facilitating the discussion board and of course this would be a graded assignment. Guidelines would need to be provided and expectations outlined. They soon learn what you struggle with and it seems to prompt more involvement.
William Huber
William and Ellen,
Yes, good ideas. We are learning so much from each other and I do like making the students responsible. Thanks again.
Good day, Lois and I have institutions that do not allow us to alter the assignment or to provide additional points for extra credit. Once a student has completed the tasks, we cannot reward the students with points... but we do provide additional "praise".
Albert,
Wow. I've never seen so many restrictions. But, we all do what we have to do with what we have to work with. ;-) Thanks for your input.
The restrictions or as we call them, the assignment tasks are regularly reviewed by the faculty teaching the course.
Be agreeing on a general set of rubrics, we encourage faculty to employ similar criteria and avoid student appeals based on "fairness".
Albert,
It's good to have a set of general rubrics, but make sure they assess the learning outcomes and provide adequate feedback to students. Thanks.
I have substituted "group" projects in the past. I will pair up 2-3 students per group and give them something to work on together that will require them to email, call, and/or text each other in order to complete the assignment.
Isn't that a form of discussion? I should think so! IT may not be ideal for online discussion, but if you pick a project that requires critical thinking on the parts of all involved in order to be successful--everybody wins!
Ben,
Yes, that's a form of discussion. Many times we think discussions only occur on a discussion board, but that not necessarily true. However, many instructors thing about discussions as something they are involved with as well. Thanks!
Marshall,
I also find that a number of students lack basic communication skills especially when dealing with online communication. The lack of capital letters and punctuation is the most disconcerting to me.
Sue and Marshall,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. Keep working with students to develop professional communication skills.
