Just like in face-to-face courses, effective discussions foster interaction between students and instructors and can be used in a wide variety of learning activities.
The discussion board is a tool that is firmly integrated into the tradition of online learning. Discussion boards are popular in online classes because they were originally one of the most effective methods of encouraging critical thinking through back-and-forth commenting between students, they mimic the discussion-oriented interactions that take place in a classroom, and every major LMS includes an effective discussion forum feature.
However, crafting effective discussion questions/prompts is not always as easy as it looks!
Many experienced online instructors are frequently frustrated with the lack of discussion that results after posting a question. This problem needs to be seriously evaluated, as the issue is often a poorly written prompt.
You don’t have to answer every student reply, but you should monitor them. Instead, you can offer advice where needed and spot comment across a forum, making sure that you spread your attention out so everyone hears from you at regular intervals. You should reply to each student every week, as stated in the Best Practices and Expectations for Quality Online Learning checklist.
As former Academic Dean Debby Stewart once shared “… there should be interaction that allows for active and meaningful thinking. The faculty can make connections between different students’ comments, summarize or highlight key points, ask follow-up questions, nurture first steps, encourage promising ideas, gently bring back to the topic those students that have gone astray. Attentiveness is a gift to students. It is affirming to be seen in a discussion by the faculty. There is so much modeling that happens in a good discussion. I can’t imagine that faculty teaching in on-ground courses leave the room during discussions.”
The following discussion prompts are aligned with this learning objective: “Demonstrate an understanding of the theory of cognitive dissonance.” All three of the prompts below require the students to fulfill the learning objective effectively. However, as “discussion prompts” they represent a range of effectiveness.
Poor
Discuss the meaning of “cognitive dissonance.”
This prompt merely requests students to reiterate a definition. It can be effectively answered in one sentence. While the prompt begins with “discuss,” it does not clarify “what” the students will be discussing.
Better
Reflect on the meaning of “cognitive dissonance.” Provide a specific example of a time in your life when you’ve experienced this phenomenon. How did you feel in this situation?
This prompt is open-ended and requires students to identify a personal example that demonstrates a theory from the content in the learning unit. Sharing personal stories is a great way to help students understand abstract ideas, connect with content, build community, and encourages other students to consider a variety of applications of concepts.
Best
Identify an online image or video that demonstrates an example of “cognitive dissonance.” Before Thursday at 11pm, share the image or video in a discussion post (you may embed the media or post a link to it). In your post, defend how this example demonstrates the theory of cognitive dissonance. Before Saturday at 11pm, reply to at least two student posts with your analysis of the image or video. Do agree or disagree that this example demonstrates the theory? Why or why not?
This prompt is open-ended and requires students to demonstrate that they understand a concept by synthesizing it into a visual form and defending in writing how the visual example demonstrates the concept. Students are required to reply to each other’s posts, encouraging exposure to a variety of examples, and support or debate each other’s selections. The prompt also includes a clear due date for the post and the reply portion of the activity. Staggering due dates for posts and replies are important. If all are due at the same time, you will find that students will wait until the last minute and there will be very few posts for students to respond to!
DO consider offering multiple questions to choose from. It makes for a more diverse conversation, and it gives students more opportunities to discuss the things that really resonated with them.
DON’T ask questions that have simple yes-or-no answers or just require looking up some sort of bit of information. Those will not lead to further conversations, nor will students find them very engaging. Save those kinds of questions for your quizzes, if you give them.
DO have some sort of criteria/requirement that they respond to one another (ideally more than once) that requires substantive interaction. One thing that I find incredibly effective is to require them to ask a question of their classmates at the bottom of thier inital post, one that requires something more than a yes-or-no answer.
DON’T be vague in your directions or expectations. Lay everything out clearly, and don’t assume they are just going to know what to do.