Getting Good Responses Without the Workload in Discussion Forums Dale Vidmar Library Instruction Coordinator/ Education and Communication Librarian Southern Oregon University Library Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching - West Pomona, California March 19-20, 2004

Objectives: What We are Learning At the end of the workshop, IWBAT: Distinguish qualities of responses in discussion forums. Create a rubric that identifies and articulates the various degrees of quality in a responses. Adapt the structure of student-monitored discussion forums into their own class using the rubric as a guide to student self-assessment.

Brief List of Online Discussion Models Introductions Personal Goal Setting Coffee House, Technology Bar, Water Cooler Question – Response Peer Evaluation and Feedback Group Work – 3 to 1: Three students define and discuss topic and post as one Starter/Wrapper – Initial Posting/Summary Self- Evaluation or Personal Reflections

Elements of Structure to Guide Online Discussions Moderator Guidelines Examples of questions How to facilitate discussions Protocol for Posting Responses Participation Grammar Counts – Well-written, organized Builds and furthers discussion Evaluation (Rubrics) Criteria for assessing the discussion

“... the virtual learning space of an online forum did not promote the coherent and interactive dialogue necessary to conversational modes of learning.... “Learning within Incoherent Structures: The Space of Online Discussion Forums” Matthew J. W. Thomas incoherent structure....”

“99% of success is just showing up....” Woody Allen

“Grading student discussions motivated students to increase the number of weekly messages....” “Strategies for Grading Online Discussions” Alfred P. Rovai

“Connectedness and learning were also significantly higher for courses in which discussions were graded and in which students posted on average over three messages per week....” “Strategies for Grading Online Discussions” Alfred P. Rovai

What is a “Good” Response? What Criteria Can We Use to Evaluate Responses? What are the Qualities that Make a “Good” Response?

Student Facilitated Discussion Model 1.Students are grouped in diads or triads. 2.Each group moderates a discussion based on their own question. 3.All students will be evaluated based on the rubric. 4.After all discussion forums are ended, each student chooses their best hits based on the rubric. 5.Students write reflection of why the responses are their best hits by applying the criteria in the rubric.

References and Resources Edelstein, S. and J. Edwards (2002). If you build it, they will come: building learning communities through threaded discussions. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 5 (1), Retrieved on September 15, 2003, om edelstein51.html. Gilbert, P. K. and N. Dabbagh. (2002). How to Structure Online Discussions for Meaningful Discourse. Retrieved November 19, 2003 from Hein, T. L., and S. E. Irvine (1998). Assessment of student understanding using on-line discussion groups, Proceedings, 1998 Frontiers in Education Conference. Retrieved September 14, 2003, from Kerka, S., and M. E. Wonacott. "Assessing Learners Online: Practitioner File.“ ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education (ERIC/ACVE). Retrieved September 15, 2003, from

References and Resources Markel, S.L. (2001). Technology and education online discussion forums: it's in the response. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 4, (2): Retrieved September 14, 2003, from summer42/markel42.html. Marzano, R. J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: research- based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Rovai, A. P. (2003). Strategies for grading online discussions: effects on discussions and classroom community in internet- based university courses. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 15(1), Thomas, M. J. W. (2002). Learning within incoherent structures: the space of online discussion forums. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 18,

Getting Good Responses Without the Workload in Discussion Forums Dale Vidmar Library Instruction Coordinator/ Education and Communication Librarian Southern Oregon University Library Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching - West Pomona, California March 19-20, 2004