Beyond "I Agree": Developing a Toolkit for facilitating Online Discussions
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This document discusses developing tools to facilitate effective online discussions. It recommends establishing clear guidelines for student participation, including expected quantity and quality of posts. Instructors should model discussion participation by asking Socratic questions and providing feedback. Rubrics can be used to assess student posts and provide guidance on areas for improvement. The goal is to move students beyond simple agreement posts and encourage critical thinking through probing questions and substantive discussion.
Beyond "I Agree": Developing a Toolkit for facilitating Online Discussions
- 2. Beyond “I Agree” Developing a toolkit for facilitating online discussionsMiriam Russell, Ed. D.Assistant Area Coordinator, CDLMark Marino, M. S.Faculty, Erie Community College
- 3. What’s wrong with agreement?
- 4. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains
- 5. Lack of models for substantial discussion posts
- 6. Tendency to stay in comfort zone
- 7. Lack of probing questions
- 8. Lack of clear expectations
- 9. Lack of assessment & feedback
- 10. Perception that discussions are not important in the course
- 11. Good news! We can address all of these by developing a toolkitWhere do “I Agree” responses come from?
- 12. Clear Guidelines2. Socratic Questions3. Assessment: Rubrics Workshop Goals: Tools for Effective Asynchronous Discussions
- 13. Establish Clear GuidelinesHow to succeed in a course should not be a secret, assumed to be known nor implied.Guidelines, especially for discussions, should be explicitly defined in terms of quantity and quality. Clearly explain what is expected for “quality and quantity” of discussion posts
- 14. CDL “Instructor Expectations”Clarify course expectationsLog in several times per week to maintain a regular course presenceProvide substantive and timely feedback on academic workRespond to questions in public discussions and private folders as appropriateFacilitate student discussions to enhance individual learningChallenge students to think criticallyWrite narrative evaluations of academic performance in the courseSubmit course outcomes and grades within two weeks after the end of the term
- 15. Instructor postsQuantity? Will we “take over” or halt a discussion if we post too much?Do we want to be a Sage, Guide or a Ghost?What does the data say?
- 16. Instructor postsModel academic inquiry, communication within the discipline (appropriate terminology, notation, etc.)Opportunity to infuse web resourcesExpress appreciation and curiosity (ELVT)Use of Socratic questioningThe guide on the side need not step aside. Instructors are part of the discussion.
- 17. Does Your Dog Bite?
- 18. Using Socratic questioning to model discussion participationInstructor modeling of Socratic questions can promote the goal of empower students to take charge of their learning.
- 19. (2009)Roufaiel’sHierarchy of Socratic QuestionsClarification: What do you mean? Give me an example. What does it relate to? How did you reach this conclusion? Let me see if I understand. Probe Assumptions: What does he assume? How do you justify your point of view? Why she is thinking that way? Is it always the case? Probe Reasons and Evidences: How do you know? Was that adequate? Why? What led you to that belief? Do you have any evidence? How does it apply to this case?
- 20. Hierarchy continued:Question Viewpoints: How do you view the group responses? What would someone who may disagree say?
- 21. Probe Implications: What do you imply? What is another alternative? What effect would that have?
- 22. Questions about Questions: Would she put the question differently? Why are you addressing this question? Is this issue important? Is this question possible to answer? Why is he asking this question? Can you tell me what type of solution do you think it might be? Is your question asking us to evaluate…? Is that the right question to be asked in this case? How could someone settle this question?
- 23. N. Roufaiel (2009)Assessment + feedback leads to an opportunity for growthRubrics
- 24. (Educationally Valuable Talk (EVT) vs. (ELVT)
- 25. Angel Tools for communicating feedback
- 26. Angel Gradebook for Discussions Provide individual feedback on discussion posts:Open discussion postClick on the “Submissions” Tab [on toolbar}Click on Grade Forum Select student namePost a grade or comment
- 27. Odds and EndsConsider points/credit for:Posting earlyPostings that create new subject TitlesNot re: re: Postings that are Socratic questionsPostings with substantial resources and documents
- 28. Angel toolkitTools for types of postsModel curiosity and a love of learningUse Socratic QuestionsGuidelines & RubricsLOR/ Macro: Saves your posts and resources from term-to-termAssessment & feedbackProvide this often
- 29. Set guidelines: Use a rubricProvide clarificationNot Re: Re:Participate, EncourageAsk Socratic QuestionsProvide timely feedbackAssessmentsHow you can improveAbove all: Don’t worry!
Editor's Notes
- #3: Looking to bring students beyond “I Agree?” Want to scaffold student thinking beyond agreement? Does this happen without teacher presence? It could:participate from afar (course mail, etc) Used Socratic questions as the topic prompt Encourage lurkers? Use Rubrics? Want to? Use discussion grading features? AndWe’ll touch on those tools and explain why we’ve divided you by areas of study.
- #4: Are you more likely to apply critical thinking to agreement or disagreement?
- #5: Miriam: Notice that Argument, (defending your position) is at the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains. In our Angel courses, discussions are graded and we all want our students to benefit from required discussion participation. We can make use of the fact that we are social animals and discussions are the only avenue that provides that social context of discussions. Here’s where we establish a community of Inquiry? See where discussions become a part of the instructional process? Bernard, Abrami et al compared student online behavior with student classroom behavior: results: when online instruction focuses on increasing or enhancing interaction, outcomes improve.” “Why is online better? The Sloan Consortium April 2, 2010. Discussions can help invite students into these higher levels of cognitive processing. It is through evaluating, assessing, proposing, comparing, etc. that students develop critical thinking and move beyond knowledge acquisition and comprehension..
- #6: Solicit answers from participants before pressing enter.
- #7: Bernard, Abrami et al compared student online behavior with student classroom behavior: results: when online instruction focuses on increasing or enhancing interaction, outcomes improve.” “Why is online better? The Sloan Consortium April 2, 2010.
- #8: Look for the How to Participate in Discussions in your Angel pages. Urge students to use them.Petz in SUNY learning network PP, “Adults learn best when they know in advance what it is they are supposed to learn.” Bliss adds: Explain the Ivory Tower – unlocking the gates – **How to be successful in a course should not be a secret, nor implied. It should be clear and explicit. also, “when they are given detailed guidelines.”
- #9: This list is from the Administrative overview sent to instructors when hired to teach CDL courses, The bulk of Expectations of instructor responsibilities are discussion related. Half of CDL’s instructor expectations are discussion related.
- #10: How many are worried about participating in online discussions? Quantity: It’s a balance. General rule of thumb is to post as much as you request the students to.Ko and Rosen: “When students see you “poke your head into” the classroom (that is, see your postings) it makes them feel that you are truly present and actively responding to the class. In contrast, when students see that an instructor rarely engages with them, they are discouraged from posing questions and comments aimed even indirectly at the instructor, and they may also conclude that the instructor will be unaware of what is going on in the “classroom.” (p. 325). Bliss and Lawrence (2009) studied “student participation rates, quantity of student posts, quality of student posts, and the extent of threading” and concluded that they are “well correlated with instructor activity.” In their meta-analysis, they found that the when the instructor is perceived to facilitate discussions, the student satisfaction with the online course as well as their own perception of how much they learned during the course, is significantly greater.How many are worried about participating in online discussions? Bliss and Lawrence; Instructor presence was measured as the number of instructor posts per student. The idea here is that in larger classes, a greater quantity of instructor posts is required to demonstrate presence (i.e. one post in 100 has a different level of presence than one post in 10). However, they could conclude from their examination of online math courses that “Instructors who maintained a presence in the group helped to encourage and restructure groups in the event of non-participating members and also helped to encourage groups to reach consensus” JALN (Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Vol 13: Issue 4
- #11: Here are some types of posts that facilitate
- #12: If we are expected to respond, how can we respond safely?Article by Toledo with more example questions. Working in Angel, we don’t have the problem of creating the initial prompt question. However, we do have the same problem in developing the art of sustaining the highest level of student learning.
- #13: How much modeling is effective? Remember, More instructor presence in discussions results in increased student activityIn addition, Prompt, timely responses results in increased student activityToledo cites ……….in Does your Dog Bite?Greater encouragement from instructors will result in increased student activity (1995) (Handout contains the Socratic Questions Hierarcy) and Does your Dog Bite?
- #16: Mark’s Angel page: on Discussion assessment
- #17: Betty Lawrence (2009) Ken Charuk (2009)
- #18: If you are not participating in the discussion thread, individual students will know you are reading their posts and you will establish your teaching presence.
- #20: How to save in a Macro or LOR?
- #21: Provide clarification: Re: Re: Ifyou want students to change topics along with content, let them know in the beginning.To create a Community of Learners, when it comes to online discussions, some presence is better than none. The Guide on the side should not “step aside”! Let students know their strengths as well as their weaknesses.