Discussion Board 101

[amanda_taintor]

I am looking for resources to share with faculty which will help to facilitate greater understanding from students on the intent of a discussion board. I have resources on netiquette but I'm looking for a resource for instructors to use to encourage students to actually engage in discussion versus an initial summary post and a follow up peer response of "that was a great" or "I agree". Thanks!

[dhulsey]

Hey, Amanda! First, I give my students discussion questions. The student answers one of the questions for her initial post. At the end of that initial post, I have my students ask an open-ended question related to the topic.

The student who replies to the post has to try to answer the question with a developed paragraph. Students who ask good, interesting questions usually get the most responses.

Is that the kind of thing you are looking for?

[amanda_taintor]

Hi Dallas,

Thanks for responding! I am trying to find a resource my instructors can distribute to students which would clarify (to the students) what a good discussion is.  I'm attempting to avoid creating such a resource if another already exists I can give to instructors, who in turn can give to students.

[anthonem]

Hi  @amandataintor ​ -- here is a handout we share with students taking online courses informing them of considerations when responding to the instructor's discussion prompt, and also pointers when responding to classmate's posts: https://seattleu.instructure.com/courses/1563070/files/62797477/download?wrap=1

[amanda_taintor]

Perfect!

[dhulsey]

I see! Here are the instructions I give my students for writing good posts:

https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/serve/srQfMXVFUcjBqN/html

I hope they give you some ideas!

[Stef_retired]

This is great,  @dhulsey !

[cholling]

Good stuff, Dallas. May I link to this to share with my faculty?

[dhulsey]

Feel free to share, Cynthia, and thank you for taking the time to ask.

[Stef_retired]

 @amandataintor ​, in my courses, I post some general instructions about discussion participation to give my students an idea of what I expect and how I will assess their participation.

Protocol for posting questions: Your questions should be thoughtfully formulated and should inspire an open-ended discussion. Closed-ended questions--the sort of question that can be answered in a few words or with a simple "yes" or "no"--will not be considered for credit. To receive credit for posing a question on a discussion topic, your question must be open-ended: the kind of question that will prompt exposition.

Protocol for posting answers: Your answer should be comprehensive and, ideally, should incorporate support from the textbook or from ancillary sources provided in the chapter presentations. Don't worry if your answer doesn't completely address every aspect of a student's question; indeed, your answer can contain additional thought-provoking questions that continue the conversation. Responses to the Reflections Spotlight [n.b. that's the name of one of the discussion topics where I post examples for students] should consist of thoughtful evaluations of and commentary on the posted exemplar.

I boiled all of this down from the QFT, described here: Harvard Education Publishing Group

Hope this helps!

[amanda_taintor]

Thanks! The Harvard resources is the type of sources I am looking for!

[gouldt]

Amanda,

We created an infographic to add to all of our online courses. Hope this helps.

[Stef_retired]

This is nice, gouldt​; thanks for sharing!

[amanda_taintor]

This is great! Is the infographic creative commons licenced? Thanks!

[dicksonl]

Hi,  @amandataintor , I'm a coworker of Tracey's. I didn't even think about sharing or licensing the infographic when I created it, so thank you for the idea.   I have shared it to Canvas Commons (title: Guidelines for Discussions & Netiquette) with a CC- BY, NC license. I hope that helps! 

[laurakgibbs]

This is not quite the same thing, but  @scottdennis ‌ had started a discussion about best practices for discussion boards, more aimed at instructors — but of course there are all kinds of things instructors can/should do as they design discussion board activities that will convey, directly and indirectly, that positive message you want to get across to students about the purpose and meaning of the assignment. So, here's a link to that discussion, and I had replied with some links to posts by Debbie Morrison that I find really useful on this whole question.

https://community.canvaslms.com/message/70974-re-best-practices-for-using-discussions 

[seancummings]

Amanda, 

University of Waterloo has a great web page devoted to this: Online discussions: tips for students | Centre for Teaching Excellence 

You can also find some less formal tips at the USNews site: https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2015/04/03/5-ways-to-ace-discussion-board... 

I point my students to the University of Waterloo first to get excellent direction, then to the USNews site for more student perspectives and insight.