Discussion Boards-Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking in
Action
Ida M. Jones, J.D.
Craig School of Business
California State University, Fresno
How many of you use technology to teach? What kinds?
Effective Teaching and Learning
• Lectures• Manage learning• Control amount of info• How learners get the info• Present to large numbers of learners
• Socratic method: questions and answers under fire; probing to encourage learning
How does Learning Occur?Orally delivered content
Students listen, discuss in person
Students • watch, • take notes, • follow instructor modeling analysis
2 Learning Theories
info
infoConstructivism
Objectivism
info
Learning Theory-Deeper Learning
vs
Surface learning
Deep learning
Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
• “encourages contact between students and faculty• develops reciprocity and cooperation among students, • encourages active learning, • gives prompt feedback, • emphasizes time on task, • communicates high expectations, and• respects diverse talents and ways of learning. ”
(Chickering, A. W., and Gamson, Zelda F. (1999), available at: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm,
Development and Adaptations of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching & Learning(80), 7.)
What is an Online Discussion Board?
• Threaded discussion, e.g.• Blackboard, discussion forum• Google Groups
• Asynchronous• One person posts a thread
• Others respond• Written rather than oral
• Flexible
Collaborative Quizzes(Sample Attached to Handout)
• Collaborate to develop answers • Basic questions• Some case discussions
• Randomly assigned groups of 5-7 • Each week,
• Discuss answers to quiz questions • Prepare a group answer to each question.
• The individual quiz -3 randomly selected questions• Grades based on results of
• Writing original answers• Commenting/adding to other answers• Developing group answers• Taking quiz; submitting group answers as responses
COLLABORATIVE QUIZZES-STUDENT EVALUATIONS OF EFFECTIVENESS
Overall, the group quizzes were an effective way to learn the material.
Agree48%
Disagree4%
Neither Agree nor Disagree
22%
Strongly Agree22%
Strongly Disagree
4%
Agree
Disagree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Strongly Agree
Strongly Disagree
BA88Fall 2008
70% agreed/strongly
agreed
Overall, the members of my group helped to keep me engaged and participating in productive dialogue. BA88F08
Strongly Agree43%
Agree26%
Neither Agree nor Disagree
13%
Disagree9%
Strongly Disagree9%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
BA88Fall 2008
69% agreed/strongly
agreed
Overall, the members of my group were helpful in identifying areas of agreement and disagreement on
course topics that helped me to learn.
Agree. 33%
Disagree. 8%
Neither Agree nor Disagree.
13%
Strongly Agree. 46%
Agree
Disagree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Strongly Agree
BA88Fall 2008
79% agreed/strongly
agreed
Review of Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
• “encourages contact between students and faculty• develops reciprocity and cooperation among students, • encourages active learning, • gives prompt feedback, • emphasizes time on task, • communicates high expectations, and• respects diverse talents and ways of learning. ”
(Chickering, A. W., and Gamson, Zelda F. (1999), available at: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm,
Development and Adaptations of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching & Learning(80), 7.)
Lessons Learned-1• Length of time to learn
• Fall 2006; all semester• Fall 2008; by the 2nd of 5 lessons
• Students were initially reluctant to post comments, especially constructive criticism of the information posted by members of their groups.
• Organization• Fall 2006: Students were unwilling to set internal
deadlines to complete work. They were much more comfortable with instructor-established deadlines.
• Fall 2008: were different and much more collaborative
Lessons Learned-2• Students’ preparation for discussions that
involved deeper learning were better after they worked on the collaborative quizzes.
• Those students who worked on the quizzes • performed better on exams. It’s not clear yet
whether that was because they were better students overall, or whether the quiz format helped them.
• Engaged in in-depth critical analysis
Now, it’s your turn!
• Use the handout to create your own discussion assignment• Purpose• Length of time• Easy to difficult questions
• Turn to the person next to you and explain your assignment
Questions and Comments