In various conversations about online courses recently, I’ve shared some of my random thoughts about online discussion. Such as…
When done well discussion has great value. Engaging in a discussion can help students:
- explore a diversity of perspectives
- recognize and investigate their assumptions
- increase their intellectual agility
- show respect for others’ voices and experiences
- develop students’ capacity for clear communication
- and so on.
When planning for a discussion I tend to complete four steps:
- Start by thinking about the purpose of the discussion. What is my instructional goal? How does it relate to helping students achieve the learning objectives/outcomes.
- Then I think about function: Is the function of the discussion informational, problematical, dialectical, and/or reflexive.
- Next I develop a thought provoking prompt or question that encourages students to use their new learning and understanding: exploratory, challenge, relational, diagnostic, action, cause and effect, extension, hypothetical, priority, and summary.
- If useful, I select a discussion protocol such as — Think-Pair-Share, Jigsaw, Rotating Stations — to provide specific structure and guidance for the actual discussion activity.
- Finally I establish the physical space (if online) and create the needed materials/resources including assessment tool.
In terms of encouraging students to engage in and contribute to discussions, I think in terms of:
- Relevance — Is the discussion format appropriate for the instructional goal? What is the function of the discussion? Is the prompt/question relevant to student learning objectives?
- Expectations — Have I made my expectations clear, have I modeled what I’m looking for, have I structured the conversation in a way that helps students meet the expectations?
- Structure — What size of group, what type of prompt/question is needed, would a discussion protocol be appropriate? What is the artifact produced as a result of the discussion?
- Assessment. Do I assess using a discussion rubric, do I ask students to self and peer assess using a discussion rubric, do I ask for a resulting product that I assess based on specific criteria, etc.?
In terms of assessment there are so many viable approaches. Three approaches I often use include karma/inspiration points, co-created discussion guidelines, and one minute papers.
For karma/inspiration points I give students a set number of karma/inspiration points that they give out to each other based on specific criteria such as “Most original idea shared” or “Comment that helped my understanding the most” or “Perspective I hadn’t considered” etc. This provides some guided structure for contributing and how to think about contributions that are of value to others.
I work with students to establish discussion guidelines and then use the guidelines as assessment criteria for discussions — I use the criteria for my own assessment and/or ask them to apply the criteria to themselves and each other.
For one minute papers, I let students know in advance that at the end of the discussion they will write a one minute paper that includes a summary of the conversation, and shares their most significant contribution to the discussion is and described why it was significant.