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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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21 Ways to Structure an Online Discussion, Part 1

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In part 1, we’ll explore activities to structure an online discussion to encourage learners to apply the concepts they have learned in class.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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*This is a five-part series.
Four Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts Through Divergent Thinking

In the last installment of this article series,I described five ideas for structuring online discussions when the aim is to encourage learners to apply concepts that they have learned, mostly by recognizing examples or generating them.

In this and the next article, I will describe ideas for structuring an online discussion when the goal is for learners to further explore a concept studied in class. I subdivided the ideas into two categories: Some are useful when the goal is for learners to engage in divergent thinking, in other words, when they are generating ideas and expanding the range of solutions or brainstorming (this article). The second set is useful when the aim is for learners to engage in convergent thinking, to gain a deeper and richer (and common) understanding of a concept (the next article).

The four online discussion structures described in this article to assist learners in exploring concepts through divergent thinking are:

Sticky Note Party

Description: Sometimes called affinity mapping, this favorite activity of design thinking practitioners is an effective way to harness a team's brainstorming capacity. This discussion requires the use of a virtual collaborative pinboard, something like Google's Jamboard, Padlet, Lino, Wakelet, Pinside, Scrumblr, or if your organization has access to it, Miro. The process starts with each learner independently brainstorming responses to a prompt. They write one idea per sticky note and pile them in one location on the collaborative board. Then, each learner presents one idea to the team in a live session. If anyone else has a similar idea, they place their sticky note on top of the speaker's note, in one pile. Once each person has had a turn, they present their second idea, and so on around the team until everyone's sticky notes have been presented. As a third step, the group looks at the ideas on the board and discusses whether they can categorize the piles of ideas. Sometimes, groups will choose to group similar ideas together into a concept map. Sometimes, they will choose to represent their ideas into a Venn diagram, a flowchart, a hierarchy, or some other way that captures the main ideas and their relationships. The group then summarizes and presents the results of their brainstorm, either visually or in a written format. There can be a gallery walk where teams investigate and comment on the outcome of other teams' efforts.

Tips: Unlike small group activities where smaller teams are better than larger ones, this activity can accommodate groups of up to 10 learners easily. Ideally, learners will be able to meet for a live discussion while having access to their pinboard. However, with a bit of adjustment, it is possible to do this activity asynchronously, where learners leave richer explanations of their ideas on sticky notes and teams propose the categories they see emerging from the sticky notes on a text-based discussion forum before they go ahead and move the sticky notes to form categories. In an asynchronous format, clear instructions are essential.

Example: (Education course). What can we do to make our classroom more equitable for all learners? In your group, brainstorm ideas and hone your collective wisdom into five concrete suggestions. Start by individually generating a minimum of five ideas on your team's pinboard (post one idea per sticky note). Then, meet as a group to discuss all the ideas and group them into categories. Write your team's top five suggestions on the class's discussion board. Read the other team's posts and acknowledge your favorite idea that your team had not thought about (i.e., post a response to that team's post describing which idea caught your interest as the best idea and why you wish you had thought of it yourself by explaining why you think it will be effective).

Variations: There are several ways to vary this activity based on the parameters of the brainstorming exercise. Here are a few examples.

Build a Checklist. In this activity, the group uses the power of brainstorming to create a checklist for doing a particular task (for example, they could create a checklist of the steps required to build a website for a client, or for DNA polymerase to replicate genetic material). A checklist is a useful exercise because it forces the team to bring to the surface and discuss each component of the larger task, their order, and their importance. First, each person brainstorms the steps of a process individually, capturing each step on a sticky note. Then the team uses the shared pinboard to create a linear flowchart of the process, discussing which ought to be the first step, the second, and so on, negotiating the sequence and even presence of each step. As a final step, the group may discuss the importance of each step, weighing each one with a score, and removing the ones deemed less important for a shorter checklist.

Force Field Analysis. This type of brainstorm aims to identify the forces acting upon "something" to cause it to change. Teammates first brainstorm all the forces acting upon the object that cause change. Then they repeat the exercise brainstorming factors that are preventing change. On each of their sticky note, they add a value that represents the strength of that force, usually on a scale from 1 to 5. The pinboard is represented with the object in the middle and the forces for and against change on either side of it. The process proceeds as the activity described above (i.e., each person presents one sticky note, a discussion ensues, and after each person has presented their ideas, the team categorizes the group's responses). As an example, a prompt might ask learners to classify the forces acting on individuals in their decisions to get vaccinated.

SWOT Analysis. This well-known business tool asks the group to brainstorm ideas about the strengths (S) of an organization (or a concept), its weaknesses (W), opportunities (O) for its future, and threats (T) to its survival. Individuals first write each idea on one sticky note. Then the team pools everyone's ideas on a shared SWOT chart (on a collaborative virtual pinboard), first discussing each person's ideas for strengths identifying categories of ideas that emerge. The team then moves on to weaknesses, opportunities, and then threats. Other than a business course where this format could easily be applied, with a bit of imagination an activity like this could be adapted in other courses such as chemistry, where learners must do a SWOT analysis of a type of chemical bond, or in a biology course learners might analyze the case for placing an animal on the endangered species list.

Fishbone Analysis. Another way to structure the brainstorm and its resulting analysis is to use the well-known Fishbone Diagram (see the resources cited under More Information below for templates). In a Fishbone Analysis, teams brainstorm the causes of a situation or problem. They organize them into six main fishbones that stem off the fish's backbone. Each fishbone can be further developed into sub-causes which represent minor causes. This diagram helps people see causes and effects. It could be used, for example, when learners investigate what led to the development of a particular policy (its societal, political, financial, and other causes).

More Information: Barkley et al. (2005); Digital Society School (n.d.-a); Gamestorming (n.d.-a, n.d.-b, n.d.-c); IAF Methods (n.d.); IDEO.org (n.d.-b); MediaLAB Amsterdam (n.d.)

Wisdom of Crowds

Description: This type of discussion is helpful when a group wants to prioritize ideas generated by its members. This type of discussion starts like the Sticky Note Party, where each participant generates at least one idea in response to a prompt. Then, each member of the team examines the range of responses and ranks them. The team then looks at the team-ranked responses and discusses the top ideas. Two variations on how to conduct this activity are described below. It can be done as a whole class or in smaller groups.

Tips: This discussion activity can be combined with others like Case Study, Role Play, or Debate (which will all be described in Article 3 of this series).
Variations:
Example: (Biology course). Should Monsanto be allowed to distribute the GMO Golden Rice to developing countries, free of charge? Golden rice is a genetically modified rice variety that produces vitamin A, a nutrient deficient in the diet of people living in many developing countries. One half of the class will be assigned to the Pro team, the other half to the Con team. Each person must research the topic and provide at least three arguments to support their team's position. The team should then discuss all brainstormed ideas, rank them, and select the top three. Write one post fleshing out your team's three chosen arguments.

Dotmocracy. When conducted in a face-to-face context, dotmocracy starts with each idea written on a sheet of paper posted on the walls around the room. Then, participants are given a set of colored sticker dots - red, yellow, and green. Participants go around the room, read the statement on each sheet of paper, and add a dot - green if they support the idea, yellow if they are lukewarm, red if they oppose the idea. Once everyone has added their dots, it is easy to see which idea is most supported, which idea is most controversial (has support and opposition) and which ones leave people indifferent. A discussion can follow from this visual summary of the class's input. In a virtual environment, there are several ways to conduct such an interactive "gallery walk." The first is to use a collaborative document such as Google Slides where each learner posts one idea on one slide. Then, learners review each slide and post a colored dot. The results trigger a conversation about the ideas, as they would in a face-to-face activity. The second way to proceed is to use a dedicated app, such as Dotstorming. Such app allows each person to post their ideas but have additional features to manage the voting, such as hiding the dots until everyone has voted to prevent "group-think," giving each learner a limited number of voting dots (e.g., asking everyone to choose their top three ideas), and sorting the ideas by the number of votes for ease of analysis.

25/10 Crowd Sourcing. This way of triggering conversation was suggested as part of the Liberating Structures toolset. In the face-to-face version, each participant writes a bold idea in response to a prompt on an index card. They mill around the room and exchange the card five times so that the authorship is lost. Then, they read the card in their hand and on the back rate the merit of the idea on a scale from 1-5. Participants repeat the steps outlined above four more times. At the end, the five ratings are summed, and each idea ranked. The top five ideas are further discussed. In an online environment, participants can each (anonymously) add one idea on a slide using Google Slides. Participants then go to Google's Random Number Generator to generate five random numbers - the number of the five slides they will review and rate (i.e., if the random number generator provides the number 6, then the learners should review the sixth slide of the Google Slides document). Each learner reads her assigned slide and leaves a rating, from 1 to 5, in the Speaker Notes at the bottom of the slide. At the end, the ratings of each slide are tallied, the ideas ranked, the results presented on the text-based discussion board where the discussion can continue.

More Information: Diceman (n.d.); Lipmanowicz and McCandless (2013)

Lotus Diagram

Description: A Lotus Diagram is a collaborative concept mapping activity. It is useful when the goal is to make evident all concepts related to a central one. A subset of learners is assigned to start the concept map, placing the concept under investigation in the middle and adding related concepts that "flower out" from the central one. Then, a second group of learners each take one of the secondary ideas and repeat the process, using those ideas as their central ones and fleshing them out by identifying and drawing their linked concepts. The resulting concept map will have three levels of concepts arising from the central one. For a fuller exploration, it is possible to repeat these steps another time, adding a fourth level of concepts. Optionally, another group of learners can be tasked with capturing relationships between concepts on the concept map, irrespective of their "level." There are a plethora of online tools that can be used for collaborative concept mapping from the presentation tool Prezi to the dedicated Bubbl.us, Coggle, Creately, Diagrams.net, GitMind, GroupMap, Milanote, Mindly, Mindmeister, Mindomo, MindMup, Sketchboard, and Wisemapping, to list just a few.

Tips: Learners need clear expectations in a concept mapping activity. For example, instructors may wish to specify that each learner must add a minimum of five concepts to the concept map. Note that concept mapping exercises are wonderful "pre- and post-" activities, where the concept map developed before a concept is studied captures the learners' existing knowledge and can serve as a springboard for the lesson. Learners fill in the concept map after the lesson to visualize (and gain awareness of) how their learning has grown.

Example: (Research Methods course). Develop a three-layered concept map of the concept of Quantitative Analysis that we studied in Module 4. Learners assigned to Group 1 should each add five related concepts to the central one of quantitative analysis. Learners in Group 2 should each select one secondary concept and flesh it out by adding five related concepts that stem from it. Once the map is complete, identify one concept you think is missing from this diagram (or that you think is erroneously present or is misplaced) and describe what it is and where it belongs. Submit your revised map, with your addition and a short description of your reasoning, on the discussion board.

More Information: Digital Society School (n.d.-b); Janse (2019); Miro.com (n.a.); State Library of Victoria (n.d.); Tarr (n.d.)

Mash-up

Description: This activity, also a favorite of design thinkers, is used for creative problem solving. It involves taking the insights and solutions developed in one context and adapting and adopting it in another context where a similar problem needs solving. One real-world success story of using this technique is an engineer who transformed the scary MRI scanner experience of children by making it similar to an amusement park ride on a pirate ship (IDEA.org, n.d.; Kelley & Kelley, 2014). To do a mash-up, teams start by defining the features of the problem they wish to address (e.g., how can we make an MRI scanner experience more enjoyable for children?). Then, the team brainstorms industries or contexts where this problem has been solved (e.g., an amusement park). For the top choice, the team brainstorms how the problem has been addressed (e.g., gamified environment, colorful theme-based design, sights and sounds that fit into a story or adventure, tasks the kids must complete, reward for participating, etc.). Finally, the team discusses how some of these inspirations could be used to solve the initial problem (e.g., transform the MRI scanner into a pirate ship, provide a narrative of an adventure, and ask kids to count the number of times the pirates beat on a drum-to integrate the MRI's sounds as part of the play). All this can be done using Sticky Note Party methods and pinboards.

Tips: Since this activity can be quite open-ended, it is important for learners to be clear about the process. Instructors may wish to provide a worked example or demonstrate how to do it in class before letting learners do it in their teams.

Example: (Nutrition course). In your group, propose a healthy school lunch program. Brainstorm some of the problems with current lunch programs, then identify an industry that has solved your chosen problem and brainstorm the features of its programs. Finally, use these inspirations to propose solutions. For example, you might try to answer the question, "What might a farmer's market version of a cafeteria look like?" (idea inspired from IDEO.org (n.d.-c)). Describe your best innovative team solution in a post.

Since it may be difficult to see how this online discussion structure could be applied to disciplines that do not take place in the human realm, here is another example.

Example: (Molecular Biology course). RNA translation of the genetic code could be written as a program code, with recursive steps ( repeat steps 1 to X until Y) and logic decision trees ( if X then Y otherwise Z). First, write the process of RNA translation as a program code. Don't worry about exact programming language-focus on the logical steps. Then look for inefficiencies in the code. How is the way in which it is done in nature different from the way in which you would program it from a purely programming perspective? Identify the ways in which the natural process is inefficient and propose ways in which it could be improved. Comment on two of your peer's responses by identifying what could be the implications of their proposed "process improvements" for the cell.

More Information: Ahlstrom and Hyper Island (n.d.); Digital Society School (n.d.-c); IDEO.org (n.d.-a, n.d.-c)
Part 1: Five Online Discussion Ideas to Apply Learning
Dr. Annie Prud'homme-Généreux is the director of continuing studies at Capilano University. She is a past recipient of the National Association of Biology Teachers' Four-Year College/University Teaching Innovation Award. She has been teaching in a blended format for over 15 years and is currently completing a master of education in open, digital and distance education. References Part 2: Four Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts Through Divergent Thinking
Part 3: Seven Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts through Convergent Thinking
Part 4: Five Online Discussion Ideas to Foster Metacognition
Part 5: Online Discussion Ideas - Multimedia and Resources
In the next article, I will describe tools for structuring online discussions that encourage learners to explore the concept in greater depth through means of convergent thinking.

Ahlstrom, M., & Hyper Island. (n.d.). Mash-Up Innovation. https://toolbox.hyperisland.com/mash-up-innovation

Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2005). Collaborative Learning Techniques. Jossey-Bass.

Diceman, J. (n.d.). Dotmocracy - Dot Voting Tips and Resources. Retrieved February 3, 2021 from https://dotmocracy.org/

Digital Society School. (n.d.-a). Fishbone Diagram. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved January 30, 2021 from https://toolkits.dss.cloud/design/method-card/fishbone-diagram-2/

Digital Society School. (n.d.-b). Lotus Blossom. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved January 30, 2021 from https://toolkits.dss.cloud/design/method-card/lotus-blossom-2/

Digital Society School. (n.d.-c). Mash-Up. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved January 30, 2021 from https://toolkits.dss.cloud/design/method-card/mash-up/

Gamestorming. (n.d.-a). Build a Checklist. Retrieved February 2, 2021 from https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/build-a-checklist

Gamestorming. (n.d.-b). Force Field Analysis. Retrieved February 2, 2021 from https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/force-field-analysis-pzx0xc

Gamestorming. (n.d.-c). SWOT Analysis. https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/swot-analysis

IAF Methods. (n.d.). Fishbone Analysis. https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/fishbone-analysis

IDEA.org. (n.d., February 6, 2021). From Design Thinking to Creative Confidence. IDEO.org. https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/from-design-thinking-to-creative-confidence

IDEO.org. (n.d.-a). Analogous Inspiration. Retrieved February 2, 2021 from https://www.designkit.org/methods/6

IDEO.org. (n.d.-b). Find Themes. Retrieved February 02, 2021 from https://www.designkit.org/methods/find-themes

IDEO.org. (n.d.-c). Mash-Ups. https://www.designkit.org/methods/mash-ups

Janse, B. (2019). Lotus Diagram. Retrieved February 6, 2021 from https://www.toolshero.com/creativity/lotus-diagram/

Kelley, T., & Kelley, D. (2014). Creative Confidence. Williams Collins.

Lipmanowicz, H., & McCandless, K. (2013). The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures. Liberating Structures Press. http://www.liberatingstructures.com/ls/

MediaLAB Amsterdam. (n.d.). Fishbone Diagram. Retrieved February 2, 2021 from https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/fishbone-diagram

Miro.com. (n.a.). Lotus Diagram Template for Create Teams. Retrieved February 6, 2021 from https://miro.com/templates/lotus-diagram/

State Library of Victoria. (n.d.). Generating Questions - Lotus Diagram. Retrieved February 6, 2021 from http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/teachers/generating-questions-lotus-diagram

Tarr, R. (n.d.). Lotus diagram templates for essay planning. Retrieved February 6, 2021 from https://www.classtools.net/blog/lotus-diagram-template-for-essay-planning/

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21 Ways to Structure an Online Discussion, Part Two

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Four ideas for structuring an online discussion when the goal is for learners to further explore a concept studied in class.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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*This is a five-part series.
Seven Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts through Convergent Thinking

In this five-part article series, we look at ideas for structuring an online discussion. These inspirations were chosen because they address concerns that discussion forums need to give learners options in the way they participate, in the way they give each learner the opportunity to contribute something unique that is worth reading (i.e. the responses are not repetitive), and learners have an opportunity to express themselves and form communities (Schultz et al., 2020).

In the first article, we looked at ideas for structuring an online discussion that can help learners apply concepts. In the second article, we surveyed structures that can help learners explore concepts through divergent thinking, opening up new ideas and possibilities. In this third article, we will explore structures to help learners explore conceptswhen the goal is convergent thinking, so each learner gains a deeper, richer understanding of a concept and aligns with a common understanding.

In this article, the ideas for structuring an online discussion when the goal is for learners to explore a concept through convergent thinking are:

Report on Live Discussion

Description: Sometimes, the best way to have a discussion is in a "live" format where peers can respond to one another in real time. This format addresses learner concerns about the challenges of reading emotion cues in a text-based discussion. It starts in small groups where learners meet virtually for a live discussion. This works well when each learner has something personal to share, for example, past experiences that might inform and enrich the discussion. It builds community with team members learning about and from one another. This live step is followed by each learner writing their take-away lesson from the conversation and posting it on the text-based discussion board. Learners can review the post of another person in their group and reflect on how their take-home message differs from their peer's, or they can be instructed to compare and contrast the themes explored by theirs and another group.

Tips: The benefit of this format is that learners can read one another's expressions in addressing the topic. It is what builds community. However, this is also the drawback of this format. Instructors should be mindful to select topics that are not too controversial or sensitive, because learners are not protected by the relative anonymity of the text-based discussion board.

Example: (Project Management course). Think of situations where you have experienced a project being managed effectively and one where the project was not so well managed. What were elements of communication that contributed to the project management being done well or not well? Discuss your experiences in your small group and write up a short, one-paragraph post where you capture the "lessons learned" about what is important to do in maintaining effective communication in a project management context. Review the posts of peers in other groups and find two additional characteristics of effective communication to add to your own take-away in a follow-up post.

More Information: Berry and Kowal (2019, June 19, 2020)

Give One, Take One

Description: This format is helpful when the goal is for learners to explore their understanding of a topic or their values. The activity starts with a prompt. Each learner can be assigned three to five statements that could be a response to that prompt (representing different perspectives), or they may generate three to five of their own statements. The learner takes time to reflect on the degree to which they agree with each one. Then, learners pair up, expressing the degree to which they support each statement and why. Learners should then exchange one statement. The goal is for each learner to improve their hand, ending up with statements with which they strongly agree. The process is repeated three times. Then, learners get together in groups of four, share the statements they have accumulated, and agree on five statements that the whole team holds to be true. The team posts their response and reviews the conclusions reached by each team.

Tips: One way to keep the statements of each learner visible and exchangeable is to use a collaborative document such as a Google Slides or a Google Jamboard. Each "slide" or "pinboard" shows each learner's five statements. Learners can begin the process by composing five statements, or they may use Google's Random Number Generator to obtain five numbers which they match to a document where 40+ statements have been numbered and prepared by the instructor. Another (fun) way to randomly assign statements to each learner is to enter the statements in the free Wheel of Names website, and learners "spin the wheel" five times to obtain a randomly assigned set of five statements. Instructors will need to organize the paired workgroups, for example, numbering each learner and asking them to reach out to their pair to discuss and exchange their statements.

Example: (Science 101 course). What is science? Use Google's Random Number generator to obtain five numbers between 1 and 40. Then, go to the shared document "40 Statements on the Nature of Science" to collect the five statements that match your numbers. Copy and paste them to your assigned pinboard on Google Jamboard. Each learner will now have a different set of five statements on their pinboard. Evaluate your five statements. Which ones do you agree with? Which ones do not ring true? Why? On Day 2, reach out to your paired teammate (look up the Wiki for your assigned teammate). Use the chat function of the LMS to discuss which of your five statements you might be willing to exchange. You must exchange one statement. The goal is to obtain five statements on your pinboard that you agree with. On Day 3, meet with your second paired teammate and repeat the process. On Day 4, repeat the process again with your third assigned paired teammate. Finally, on Days 5 and 6, meet with your Quad team, combine your 20 statements, and choose your team's top 5 statements. Write a post that describes your team's definition of science, based on your five statements. Review two other teams' definitions and post and respond to questions about their final definition (Activity inspired by Cobern and Loving (1998)).

Variations: What's powerful about this activity is that it forces learners to rank their beliefs and understanding about a concept. There are other ways to achieve this outcome.

In this activity, learners are given a list of statements, diagrams, names of concepts, problem sets, or questions (i.e., the "cards") and are asked to categorize them. They are not told the categories-they must define them. They may print each "card" and physically sort them into piles using an organizing framework of their choice. Or, they may do it digitally, moving sticky notes with "cards" on a pinboard. Once each learner has completed this task independently, they write a post where they share the categories they created to sort the statements and list each "card" that fell under each category. Learners then notice differences between their sorting strategy and/or categorization of specific "cards" and discuss the underlying rationale for their decision, furthering their understanding of the concepts.
One way to intuitively understand this activity (used by Kimberly Tanner in her workshops, personal communication) is to use cards with pictures of superheroes. People with no knowledge of superheroes may classify them based on superficial characteristics such as whether they have a cape or whether they are human- or animal-looking. Superhero aficionados, meanwhile, may use underlying knowledge of whether the superhero belongs in the Marvel or DC Comic Universe to classify the cards. Smith et al. (2013) used this activity to draw out learners' superficial or deep understanding of biological concepts by asking them to classify questions from problem sets extracted from textbooks. Novice learners used cues from the question wording to identify the strategy they should use to solve the problem; meanwhile, more expert learners used deeper understanding of the concepts underlying the problem to choose a strategy.

More Information: Cobern (1991); Cobern and Loving (2020); Cobern and Loving (1998); IDEO.org (n.d.); Ritchhart and Church (2020); Smith et al. (2013)

Role Play

Description: Real-world scenarios are often complex and require analysis from multiple perspectives. That's when a role play can be effective. In this type of discussion, each learner is assigned, or proposes and then takes on, the role of a stakeholder in a scenario. Learners research the person's motives, values, goals, the impact of different choices, position, arguments, and respond to the prompt in that voice. Because the arguments advanced are those of the character and not the learner, learners may feel more comfortable exploring and debating controversial ideas in this format. Learners should "stay in role" when responding to their peers' posts to recreate a real-world scenario as much as possible.

Tips: Instructors must choose whether to assign roles or let learners choose their own. The advantage of assigning the roles is that it ensures each perspective that the instructor wants analyzed is covered and it also authorizes learners to argue more forcefully for that role's position without fear of judgement from their peer. The advantage of allowing learners to select their role is that it can lead to greater engagement and may introduce voices and perspectives the instructors had not thought to include.
Variations:
Example: (Politics course). Do governments have a responsibility to safeguard the health of their population? Apply your view to the government's response to the obesity epidemic. Select someone who might have a say on this issue (e.g., an elected representative, a health care practitioner, a religious leader, a stock market analyst, a CEO of a company, an academic who is a constitutional expert, a lawyer, etc.), research their perspective, and craft a post that mirrors how this person would see the role of government in the health of populations. Be sure to state your position and make your arguments in support of that position clear. Also respond to two stakeholder's posts, in the voice of your chosen role.

Debate. A debate is a form of role play where there are two main roles: a group of individuals in favor of something and a group of individuals opposed to it.

Six Thinking Hats. Based on a well-known business book, the six thinking hats is a method of investigating a situation from different perspectives. In this discussion, learners are grouped in teams of six and are each person is assigned a "thinking hat." This is the persona or perspective they will take on in analyzing the scenario.
Blue Hat (Leader). This person is the leader of the group and must take into consideration all perspectives to come to a decision.

White Hat (Thinking). This is the role of the person who is analyzing the problem from a rational or intellectual perspective. Think: "What would Spock, of Star trek, say or do?"

Red Hat (Feeling). This person must present the emotional perspective on the problem. What are some of the fears or passions that people are likely to experience in this situation?

Green Hat (Creativity). This person is tasked with coming up with innovative ways to tackle the situation.

Yellow Hat (Positivity). This person is a Pollyanna, always focusing on the benefits and merits of ideas suggested by others.

Black Hat (Cautious). The role of this person is to identify the potential drawbacks or challenges of proceeding with a course of action or decision.

Hot Seat. In this variation, learners take turns adopting the persona of a famous person studied in class and answering questions posted by their peers from that person's perspective. For example, in a literature class, three learners each week might be assigned to be the author of the book read in class and to answer peer questions about the book, its intentions, context, characters, and inspirations from the point of view of the author. These learners may need to research before answering questions. Learners rotate "in the hot seat" throughout a course.

Superheroes. Proposed by Noffs and Guerra-Martinez (April 10, 2020) in a Faculty Focus article, this method requires learners to take on the persona of a well known hero or villain and apply that lens in responding to the prompt (e.g., what would Iron Man think of this proposal and what sort of memo would he send to the Avengers?) This can lead to humorous, in-character responses that motivate learner engagement.

Love Letters / Break Up letters. A twist on the debate, this format asks learners to write a love letter to a concept they embrace or a break-up letter to a concept they oppose. Then, the group reads these letters and tries to find commonalities in the ways people respond to each concept.

More Information: Barkley et al. (2005); Berry and Kowal (2019); De Bono (1985); deNoyelles et al. (2014); Digital Society School (n.d.); Ho (February 19, 2020); ION Professional eLearning Programs (n.d.); Kelly (March 7, 2014); Noffs and Guerra-Martinez (April 10, 2020); Ritchhart and Church (2020); Zeiger (n.d.)

Jigsaw

Description: A jigsaw is an effective way to structure teamwork because it gives each learner distinctive expertise that is needed by a team to solve a problem. The activity begins by assigning learners to groups that are tasked with becoming "experts" in a specific aspect of the problem. If the instructor wants to ensure that learners consider specific factors in their analysis of the problem, they may assign resources that tackle them and give learners guiding questions to help them consider, as a group, how these factors might affect the problem to be solved.

The second step is to form new teams that are composed of members of each of the expert teams formed in the first step of this activity. Each learner shares what they learned in the first group that might be pertinent to solving the problem, considers the tensions between the solutions proposed by each expert, and solves the problem. Since teams depend on each learner's expertise, peer pressure encourages learners to be accountable. This method works best for solving complex problems for which there is not a "right answer" and teams often select different solutions.

Tips: Instructors will want to consider which spheres of knowledge are important in solving the problem. This informs the creation of the first "expert" teams. Typically, four or five domains of knowledge are best, since this will form teams of four or five learners in the second teams to solve the problem-an optimal number for teamwork of this sort.
Variations:
Example: (Engineering course). What would a lifetime cost/benefit analysis of gasoline-powered cars, compared to electric cars, reveal? Which car would you recommend to the public if they considered all the evidence? First, you will be assigned to a small expert group that must research one aspect of this question-one group will investigate the carbon footprint of manufacturing each model of car, the other group will investigate the carbon footprint of using these two car models over 10 years of operation, another group will investigate other environmental costs of manufacturing each model (e.g., mining, water resources), and the last group will investigate political, commercial, economic, and workforce implications and pressures affecting the manufacturing of each type of car. Each team should refer to the resources provided on the assignment sheet and work together to answer the guiding questions. Then, you will form new teams composed of one expert from each of the initial teams. Share what you learned in your expert group and together decide which type of car you would recommend and why. Write a short op ed piece for a newspaper and post to the discussion board. As a team, respond to one other team's op ed as a letter to the editor, commenting on the other team's decisions and why you agree or disagree with their analysis and conclusion.

Library Roulette. You may recall that one of the critiques that learners made of online discussion forums is that if each learner reads the same information, they are likely to come to the same conclusions in the discussion (Schultz et al., 2020). To breathe a bit of variety in the conversation, and to practice research literacy and critical thinking skills, learners can be tasked with finding resources to research a topic and then bring that information to the discussion (rather than assigning the same readings to everyone). This isn't a jigsaw per se, because the different expertise are not deliberately organized by the instructor, but it requires each learner to become informed from different sources, which will result in slightly different understandings and perspectives, and therefore different responses to the prompt.

More Information: Barkley et al. (2005); Schultz et al. (2020)

Case Study

Description: Case studies are narratives about challenges encountered in the real world that learners tackle and attempt to solve. A discussion board can be used for collaborative exchange of ideas and negotiation about how best to proceed or it can be used for small groups to post their chosen solution and discuss the rationale that led to each team proceeding in a different direction.

Tips: Instructors can write a case study using information from the community (for example, interviewing a local business or using a story from the local newspaper and linking it to concepts learned in class). There are also several free or open-sourced case databases for the use of educators. These include the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (over 700 science cases), The PBL Clearinghouse (with Problem-Based Learning cases in topics ranging from accounting to education to aviation science), MERLOT Business Cases, The MIT Management Sloan School Case Studies, The UBC Open Case Studies (growing collection with cases in topics ranging from social justice to civil engineering), Case It! (cases solved using a free virtual molecular biology laboratory), Health Care Case Studies, and World's Best Case Studies (video-based cases in topics including consumer goods, technology and services), to name but a few. Science instructors may also write a case study by providing a real-world scenario and tying the underlying phenomenon to an interactive simulation as a way for learners to play with the data, such as those available through PhET and The King's Centre for Visualization in Science.

Example: (Environmental Sciences course). More and more carbon-sequestration companies are popping up around the world. The goal of these companies is to capture the CO ₂ released in the air by industrial processes. A Squamish, British Columbia start-up company has recently attracted a lot of attention for its way of doing it. In your group, investigate the technique that it uses, analyze its effectiveness and the scale of its impact on CO ₂ in the air, compare it to the impact of other techniques that aim to have a similar effect, and study the unintended by-products or consequences of this techniques. Then, draft a memo that advises the BC Minister of the Environment on whether she should support tax-breaks for this and/other companies that claim to remove carbon from the air. How big should the tax-breaks be, if supported, and why? Be sure to provide the rationale in support of your position, since the Minister will have to defend the decision publicly, if she chooses to follow your recommendations. Finally, read the memo from two other teams and critique their arguments.

More Information: Koehler et al. (2020); Seethamraju (2014)

Round Robin

Description: This is a collaborative activity to be done in small groups. Learners take turns moving the discussion along but never provide a complete response. Rather, each member of the group provides a part of the response, leaving the next learner to continue. It may work best for a prompt that involves problem solving or the design of a product. The unpredictability of a learner's response infuses an element of improvisation, flexibility, and reactivity into the activity.

Tips: Learners who post early in the discussion should have a reason to continue to monitor the forum. Perhaps they can critique the final solution or provide alternative directions in which the conversation could have gone.

Example: (Education Course). Using backwards design, create a course syllabus on designing effective online discussion prompts. The first learner should post the learning outcomes. The second learner should develop a set of assessments aligned with learning outcomes for the course proposed by the first learner. Finally, the third learner should propose activities aligned with the previous work. All learners should provide an evaluation of the final work, suggesting at least two improvements.

More Information: Barkley et al. (2005); Berry and Kowal (June 19, 2020); Ho (February 19, 2020)

3CQ Model

Description: The 3CQ Model of discussion (Compliment-Connect-Comment-Question) was developed by Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell, a high school teacher who sought to train her students in effective communication in an online discussion forum. The model provides a structure by which learners may respond to peer posts. It consists of four parts to each response:

Compliment. To acknowledge the contributions of others, Stewart-Mitchell encourages learners to start by praising a specific aspect of the post. A template might direct learners to begin their post with the phrase, "I like that your post..."

Connect. This step is also about building community and connection. It's about relating, on a person level, with what the person said. For example, the learner might write, "I had the same thing happen to me when..." or "I read a similar story in X which..."

Comment. The next step adds to what was said in the post by providing a response to it. It may be a statement of agreement or disagreement. The response may begin with, "What I would add to your post is that..." or "I might come to a different conclusion because..."

Question. The last step is about keeping the conversation going by asking a specific question about the topic under discussion. Ways to state this is to write, "I wonder why..." or "What effect might X have on..."

Tips: This structure can train learners who are new to online discussions about ways to respond effectively. It lends itself to evaluation by means of a rubric and provides learners with clear expectations for their contributions. What it does not provide is a template for the initial post to each prompt-this model provides a template for the response to each original post.

Example: (Statistics course). Mark Twain famously wrote: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Do you agree? Take a position and provide a concrete example to back up your position. Respond to two peers' posts using the 3CQ Model and be sure to respond (also using the 3CQ Model) to anyone who responds to your original post.

More Information: Forster (July 21, 2016); Stewart-Mitchell (n.d.)
Part 1: Five Online Discussion Ideas to Apply Learning
Dr. Annie Prud'homme-Généreux is the director of continuing studies at Capilano University. She is a past recipient of the National Association of Biology Teachers' Four-Year College/University Teaching Innovation Award. She has been teaching in a blended format for over 15 years and is currently completing a master of education in open, digital and distance Education. References Part 2: Four Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts Through Divergent Thinking
Part 3: Seven Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts through Convergent Thinking
Part 4: Five Online Discussion Ideas to Foster Metacognition
Part 5: Online Discussion Ideas - Multimedia and Resources
In the next article in this series, we will explore ways to structure an online discussion that favor reflection and metacognition.

Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2005). Collaborative Learning Techniques. Jossey-Bass.

Berry, L., & Kowal, K. (2019, May 1). Five new twists for online discussions. Instructional Design. https://ce.uwex.edu/five-new-twists-for-online-discussions/

Berry, L., & Kowal, K. (June 19, 2020). Part Deux: Discussion on the Rocks? Add a Twist of Fresh Alternatives! OLC Innovate 2020, Online. https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/olc-innovate-2020-session-page/?session=8131&kwds=discussion

Cobern, W. W. (1991). Introducing teachers to the philosophy of science: The card exchange. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 2(2), 45-46.

Cobern, W. W., & Loving, C. (2020). The Nature of Science Card Exchange: Introducing the Philosophy of Science. In Nature of Science in Science Instruction (pp. 213-222). Springer.

Cobern, W. W., & Loving, C. C. (1998). The card exchange: Introducing the philosophy of science. In The nature of science in science education (pp. 73-82). Springer.

De Bono, E. (1985). Six thinking hats [Book]. Little, Brown. https://ezproxy.capilanou.ca/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat02755a&AN=cul.b144128&site=eds-live&scope=site

deNoyelles, A., Mannheimer Zydney, J., & Chen, B. (2014). Strategies for Creating a Community of Inquiry through Online Asynchronous Discussions. Journal of Online Learning & Teaching, 10(1).

Digital Society School. (n.d.). Break up / Love letter. Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved January 30, 2021 from https://toolkits.dss.cloud/design/method-card/break-uplove-letter/

Forster, S. (July 21, 2016). How to shake up the discussion board in your online class. Mediashift. http://mediashift.org/2016/07/how-to-shake-discussion-board-online-class/

Ho, Y. (February 19, 2020). How to create engaging discussion forums. eLearning Best Practices. https://elearningindustry.com/how-create-engaging-online-discussion-forums

IDEO.org. (n.d.). Card Sort. https://www.designkit.org/methods/card-sort

ION Professional eLearning Programs. (n.d.). Role Playing. University of Illinois Springfield.

Kelly, R. (March 7, 2014). Discussion board assignments: Alternatives to the question-and-answer format. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/discussion-board-assignments-alternatives-question-answer-format/

Koehler, A. A., Cheng, Z., Fiock, H., Janakiraman, S., & Wang, H. (2020, 2020-12-01). Asynchronous Online Discussions During Case-Based Learning: A Problem-Solving Process [Asynchronous Online Discussions, Case-Based Learning, Problem Solving]. 2020, 24(4). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i4.2332

Noffs, D., & Guerra-Martinez, J. (April 10, 2020). How superheroes can bring your online discussion board to life. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/how-superheroes-can-bring-your-online-discussion-board-to-life/

Ritchhart, R., & Church, M. (2020). The Power of Making Thinking Visible. Jossey-Bass.

Schultz, B., Nielsen, C., & Sandidge, C. (2020). How to do discussion boards according to students. OLC Accelerate, Online. https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/olc-accelerate-2020-session-page/?session=9088&kwds=discussion

Seethamraju, R. (2014, 2014/05/26). Effectiveness of Using Online Discussion Forum for Case Study Analysis. Education Research International, 2014, 589860. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/589860

Smith, J. I., Combs, E. D., Nagami, P. H., Alto, V. M., Goh, H. G., Gourdet, M. A. A., Hough, C. M., Nickell, A. E., Peer, A. G., Coley, J. D., & Tanner, K. D. (2013). Development of the Biology Card Sorting Task to Measure Conceptual Expertise in Biology. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12(4), 628-644. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-05-0096

Stewart-Mitchell, J. (n.d.). Making quality comments following the "3C & Q" Model. http://transliteratelibrarians.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/4/2/37427333/publishing_sharing_and_commenting2.pdf

Zeiger, S. (n.d., February 12, 2021). Activities to Spark Discussion in the Classroom. Busy Teacher. https://busyteacher.org/25732-activities-to-spark-discussion-in-the-classroom.html

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21 Ways to Structure an Online Discussion, Part Three

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Seven online discussion activities you can use when the goal is for learners to explore a concept through convergent thinking.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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21 Ways to Structure an Online Discussion, Part Four

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Suggestions for integrating metacognition into an online discussion with role swaps, the muddiest point, mood boards, and more.

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Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby & James Lang

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Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby & James Lang

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This is accessible via OSU Library.

The following chapters are especially relevant

Chapter 2: Guiding Learning Through Engagement

Chapter 3: Using Media and Technology Tools

Chapter 4: Building Community

Chapter 6: Fostering Student Persistence and Success

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Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes

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Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes [Darby, Flower, Lang, James M.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes

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PSs & partners: Join the conversation anytime on our PS Canvas site in the Student Engagement Module Discussion! Below are a few of the resources from the module.  Dive deeper by reading Student Engagement - Quick & Accessible Resources and  Student Engagement - Additional Resources.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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*This is the last of our five-part series.
Online Discussion Ideas - Multimedia and Resources

The past four articles in this series have suggested 21 ideas for structuring an online discussion. These proposals addressed learner suggestions that online discussions should encourage unique (and non-repetitive) contributions that foster community and engagement (Schultz et al., 2020).

One last point worth making about online discussions is that these conversations can be conducted using a variety of media. While text is the most readily available format in most Learning Management Systems (LMS), it is not the only way to do it. In fact, the more a discussion is media-rich, the more learners can absorb cues about the intent of the author of a post (the way in which the thoughts are expressed), which results in learners getting to know one another as people and builds community.

Here, then, are some media formats to consider and tools to use for an online discussion.

Text

Text is, of course, the most common way to engage in online discussions. A dedicated discussion tool is integrated in most LMS. But remember that there are tools to integrate discussions in situ with a learning activity, to have a discussion where and when the learning happens. For example, when an instructor delivers a synchronous lecture, Google Slides gives learners the opportunity to ask questions and post comments on each slide as the topic is being discussed (rather than in a separate, asynchronous discussion board). There are other ways to break out of the linear, threaded format of LMS-integrated discussions. Many polling tools allow learners to use their mobile device to submit text-based responses in real time (like a clicker in a classroom). The responses are collected and displayed in a variety of formats such as weighted word clouds that provide a snapshot of the class's responses. Some of the available polling tools include: Poll Everywhere, Mentimeter, Slido, Kahoot!, and for applying the Delphi method of bringing a group to a consensus, there is ThoughtExchange. Many online guides exist to help select the tool that meets your needs (G2, n.d.)

Graphics

An image can easily capture relationships between concepts in a way that text simply cannot. As the saying goes, an image is worth a thousand words. Many of the discussion ideas presented in this article series relied on collaborative virtual pinboards to present ideas and move them about to illustrate connections. Tools for such activities include Google's JamBoard, Padlet, Note.ly, Miro, Lino and for dotmocracy activities (aka dot voting) (Diceman, n.d.), the app Dotstorming. Graphic work can also include the creation of concept maps which can be created collaboratively using dedicated tools such as Bubbl.us, Coggle, Creately, Diagrams.net, GitMind, Wisemapping, GroupMap, Milanote, Mindly, Mindmeister, Mindomo, MindMup, Sketchboard, and Wisemapping.

Learners can have a visual discussion on these tools or share the link to their graphic work in a text-based discussion forum, or they can download the output of their graphical work and share the image on the text-based discussion board. If the latter, instructors should provide instructions about the size and resolution of the image expected. Many online guides provide a comparison of the freely available, easy-to-use image resizer tools that learners can use for this purpose.

Audio/Voiceboards

Voice carries intonations and emotional cues about an author's intent that text simply lacks. Adding this layer of personality helps to form class community while maintaining each learner's privacy. Sound can be easily accessible during commutes in the same way as a podcast or audiobook. Most LMS aren't set up to easily record and upload learner podcasts and play them back. There are plugins that make the process more user friendly, such as Moodle's Poodll. There are also dedicated voice boards, standalone voice-based discussion boards that make the process easy to do. One such tool is Vocaroo. And of course, although necessitating a bit more effort, most LMS will accept sound file uploads and playback as attachments to a text-based discussion board. Learners can use tools such as Audacity (Windows) and GarageBand (Apple) to create their audio podcast. This will necessitate a bit more direction from the instructor about using the technology. If you know of other audio-based tools, please share them in the comments below.

Video

Finally, the full-fledged way to see and hear who is making a comment, to gauge the emotional reaction, intent, and mindset of the author, and to form communities is to use video-based discussion posts. Instructors are encouraged to research the privacy policies of their institution with regards to the use of learner videos. Even when such policies allow for video exchanges, instructors may wish to give learners options, for example, doing a puppet show or taking the audience on a field trip that does not show a learner's face for learners who aren't comfortable appearing on camera. Videos can be posted to platforms such as YouTube and linked in the LMS text-based discussion. Alternatively, FlipGrid is an easy-to-use, dedicated video-based discussion platform. It is owned by Microsoft and free for educational use. Finally, VoiceThread is a tool that does it all. It allows users (learners or instructors) to post a slide show and the audience to post comments embedded in each slide - so the conversation happens in context. The author or the audience can post comments in a text-based, audio, or video format. The threaded discussion appears next to each slide. It's easy to use and has been adopted by many institutions and online conference organizers.

This completes our tour of ideas and inspirations to create engaging online discussions and break out of the text-based, prompt-and-answer discussion rut. These are not, of course, the only ways to do it. To help you explore new ways to organize a discussion or to inspire you to design a new structure, here are some helpful resources.

Some books collect ideas for classroom activities that can inspire the development of online discussion forums. Some staples include:
Collaborative Learning Techniques (Barkley et al., 2005)

The Discussion Book: 50 Great Ways to Get People Talking (Brookfield & Preskill, 2016)

The Power of Making Thinking Visible: Practices to Engage and Empower All Learners (Ritchhart & Church, 2020)

Fifty Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement: Creating a Thinking Culture in the Classroom (Stobaugh, 2019)

Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough products through Collaborative Play (Hohmann, 2006)

Designers are experts at soliciting ideas from groups of people and creating a framework for analyzing the responses. Several websites share the tools of design thinking in the form of databases or repositories of activities for framing and conducting a discussion. These include:

Similarly, workshop facilitators work to encourage conversation between participants and have created tools that can be modified for the classroom. Sites that share resources include:

Some educators have likewise collected ideas for classroom activities that can inspire classroom discussion formats. These include:
Ed Tech guru Jennifer Gonzalez has a blog entry on her site Cult of Pedagogy describing many ways to structure an online discussion forum (Gonzalez, October 15, 2015)

Over the years, Rob Kelly has written extensively in Faculty Focus on the use of online discussion forums often proposing concrete ideas for structuring discussions (Kelly, April 24, 2014, March 3, 2009, March 7, 2013, March 7, 2014, November 20, 2009, September 18, 2014).

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge three educators whose engaging presentations offer a wealth of ideas for online discussion structures:
Florencia Henshaw's one-hour presentation on ways to engage ESL learners in online discussions provides exceptionally creative ways to encourage peer-peer conversations (Henshaw, June 25, 2020)

Kristin Kowal and Laurie Berry have developed a hugely popular series called Online Discussions with a Twist that provides concrete and innovative ideas for structuring an online discussion forum. They also developed a webinar on the Teaching Professor site (Berry & Kowal, 2019, June 19, 2020; Kowal & Berry, October 22, 2018)

Part 1: Five Online Discussion Ideas to Apply Learning
Dr. Annie Prud'homme-Généreux is the director of continuing studies at Capilano University. She is a past recipient of the National Association of Biology Teachers' Four-Year College/University Teaching Innovation Award. She has been teaching in a blended format for over 15 years and is currently completing a Master of Education in Open, Digital and Distance Education. References Part 2: Four Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts Through Divergent Thinking
Part 3: Seven Online Discussion Ideas to Explore Concepts through Convergent Thinking
Part 4: Five Online Discussion Ideas to Foster Metacognition
Part 5: Online Discussion Ideas - Multimedia and Resources
I look forward to reading up on your innovations for structuring an online discussion in your own future posts of Faculty Focus.

Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2005). Collaborative Learning Techniques. Jossey-Bass.

Berry, L., & Kowal, K. (2019, May 1). Five new twists for online discussions. Instructional Design. https://ce.uwex.edu/five-new-twists-for-online-discussions/

Berry, L., & Kowal, K. (June 19, 2020). Part Deux: Discussion on the Rocks? Add a Twist of Fresh Alternatives! OLC Innovate 2020, Online. https://onl i nelearningconsortium.org/olc-innovate-2020-session-page/?session=8131&kwds=discussion

Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2016). The Discussion Book: 50 Great Ways to Get People Talking. Jossey-Bass.

Diceman, J. (n.d.). How to Use Dot Voting Effectively. Retrieved March 4, 2021 from https://dotmocracy.org/

G2. (n.d.). Best Audience Response Software. Retrieved March 4, 2021 from https://www.g2.com/categories/audience-response

Gonzalez, J. (October 15, 2015, February 12, 2021). The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/

Henshaw, F. (June 25, 2020). Are discussion forums really interactive? Ideas for purposeful asynchronous communication International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT) Webinar, https://fltmag.com/webinar-discussion-boards/

Hohmann, L. (2006). Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play. Addison-Wesley Professional.

Kelly, R. (April 24, 2014). Discussion board audit - A metacognitive, wrap-up assignment. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/discussion-board-audit-metacognitive-wrap-assignment/

Kelly, R. (March 3, 2009). Four ways to improve online discussion forums. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-course-design-and-preparation/four-ways-to-improve-online-discussion-forums/

Kelly, R. (March 7, 2013). Three ways to change up your online discussion board prompts. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/three-ways-to-change-up-your-online-discussion-board-prompts/

Kelly, R. (March 7, 2014). Discussion board assignments: Alternatives to the question-and-answer format. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/discussion-board-assignments-alternatives-question-answer-format/

Kelly, R. (November 20, 2009). Questioning styles for more effective discussion boards. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/questioning-styles-for-more-effective-discussion-boards/

Kelly, R. (September 18, 2014). Strategies for managing online discussions. Faculty Focus. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-course-design-and-preparation/strategies-managing-online-discussions/

Kowal, K., & Berry, L. (October 22, 2018). Five new twists for online discussions., The Teaching Professor. Magna Publications. https://www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/online-learning/teaching-strategies-techniques/five-new-twists-for-online-discussions/

Ritchhart, R., & Church, M. (2020). The Power of Making Thinking Visible. Jossey-Bass.

Schultz, B., Nielsen, C., & Sandidge, C. (2020). How to do discussion boards according to students. OLC Accelerate, Online. https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/olc-accelerate-2020-session-page/?session=9088&kwds=discussion

Stobaugh, R. (2019). 50 Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement. Solution Tree Press.

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21 Ways to Structure an Online Discussion, Part Five

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From text to video and voiceboards, here are media formats to consider and tools to use for an online discussion.

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"An Online Engagement Framework for Higher Education"

(2018)

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Online Assessment Techniques
for getting students actively involved in formative assessment activities

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Quick Check-in
Description: Instructor creates a discussion with one question about the
course/module/topic, and gives a very short time frame for responses, etc. Each student s/he responds to the question in the allotted time. This can be done publicly in a discussion, or posted in each of the student's private folders, or as a written assignment with the instructions to submit to class or professor.
What to do with it: Go through the student responses and determine the best criteria for categorizing the data with the goal of detecting response patterns. Discussing the patterns of responses with students can lead to better teaching and learning.

Memory matrix
Description: Instructor creates an assignment: Attaches a Word table representing a two dimensional diagram for which instructor has provided labels. Students fill in cells and return their Word documents as attachments to assignments. For example, in a music course, labels might consist of periods (Baroque, Classical) by countries (Germany, France, Britain); students enter composers in cells to demonstrate their ability to remember and classify key concepts.
What to do with it: Tally the numbers of correct and incorrect responses in each cell. Analyze differences both between and among the cells. Look for patterns among the incorrect responses and decide what might be the cause(s).

Exam Evaluations
Description: Select a type of test that you are likely to give more than once or that has a significant impact on student performance. Create a few questions that evaluate the quality of the test. Add these questions to the exam or administer a separate, follow-up evaluation.
What to do with it: Try to distinguish student comments that address the fairness of your grading from those that address the fairness of the test as an assessment instrument. Respond to the general ideas represented by student comments.

Real-World Application
Description: After teaching about an important theory, principle, or procedure, ask students to submit at least one real-world application for what they have just learned to determine how well they can transfer their learning.
What to do with it: Quickly read once through the applications and categorize them according to their quality. Pick out a broad range of examples and present them to the class in a follow up discussion.

Adapted and published on September 3, 2004 by Alexandra M. Pickett from Angelo, T.A. & Cross, P.K. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Davis, B.G. (1993). Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Quick Check-in Description: Instructor creates a discussion with one question about the course/module/topic, and gives a very short time frame for responses, etc. Each student s/he responds to the question in the allotted time. This can be done publicly in a discussion, or posted in each of the student's private folders, or as a written assignment with the instructions to submit to class or professor.

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"Discussion Board Assignments: Alternatives to the Q&A Format"
(2014)

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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If you're having trouble getting students to engage in the discussion forum, perhaps it's time to rethink how you use this tool. "Think of it as a place to foster interaction between the students through a variety of means rather than just asking them questions, although that's great too," says Chris Laney, professor of history and geography at Berkshire Community College.

Laney uses the discussion forum extensively in his online courses. Participation counts for 25 to 30 percent of the course grade, so the students feel that they need to participate. Rather than sticking to the question-and-answer format, Laney uses role plays, debates, and WebQuests to engage students in the content and with one another.

While some people may think that the discussion forum is not the appropriate place for these activities, Laney has good reasons for doing it there. He tried using a blog but found it to be "clunky," and the interaction was limited. "I feel that the discussion forum can be used for almost anything if it's thought of as an assignment feature rather than a question-and-answer forum. ... I'm very low-tech, so I don't find myself being drawn to a lot of the fancy gadgets every year that are supposed to make online learning better. I think it keeps [the course] manageable if students are not having to learn some new technical thing each time, spending all their time trying to figure out this new technology. Whether it's role-playing, debate, or a WebQuest, they're using the same basic technology."

Role-play
One forum activity, for example, asks students to do some research on a person living in an urban Roman city in the first century CE. Each student creates a character and writes a diary entry or letter recording what he or she did in the course of a day or a series of days. To do this well, students need to research a few things about the professions and classes that would have existed. "The students end up talking back and forth in character in a situation like that," Laney says. "At no point have I actually asked a question."

The key to making these role-play assignments work is providing explicit instructions. For each role-play assignment Laney provides about a page-and-a-half set of instructions, including background, lists of reading assignments, and a step-by-step explanation of what they need to do. Laney posts instructions within the discussion forum rather than in the syllabus or the course schedule, because the forum is where the assignment takes place and students are in the forum on a regular basis. Providing instructions in the forum instead of elsewhere also gives him the flexibility to make changes without diverging from the syllabus-the syllabus simply says that the forum continues from week to week and makes no mention of specific assignments.

Debate
Debates also work well in the discussion forum, Laney says. He recently had students debate whether democracy in the Middle East would result in better or worse relations with nations in the region. It's a pretty straightforward assignment; however, when having students debate it's important to set clear ground rules to keep things cordial and to avoid simplistic arguments.

The same notion applies to question-and-answer discussions. For example, he once had a discussion that asked students to compare the democracy of fifth-century Athens to the current democratic system of the United States. Which is more democratic? When he checked the forum the next day there were a bunch of messages such as "I hate George Bush" and "Obama's a socialist." "Then I [posted], 'This is way off topic. The main purpose of this assignment was to talk about Athens and learn about the Athenian system,' but by then it was too late."

Taking a lesson from this incident, Laney now includes a statement that says, "Note: The main purpose of this is to get a handle on the Athenian system of government, so please avoid judgmental comments about American politicians." "If I do that up front, I don't have redirect it a lot. We don't tend to get off topic," Laney says.

WebQuest
In weeks when a major assignment is due, Laney gives students a less intense discussion forum assignment. Rather than carrying on a discussion over the usual two-week period, he has students do a simple WebQuest and post their findings without having to respond to each other. For example, he may ask students to post an image, video, or music clip from the Romantic Period of art in the 19th century and write a brief description about why it's considered an example of Romanticism.

Grading
To keep the discussion forum assignments manageable, Laney asks students to post their messages in a single thread. In a class of 25 people there may be 75 messages in a week, but having all the messages in a single thread makes it relatively easy to grade. "I keep up with it so I have a good sense of who's been participating actively and who has been sharing good information."

When a discussion forum activity is over, Laney can click on an individual student's name and at a glance assign a grade. It typically takes 30 minutes every two weeks to grade a 25-person discussion forum.

Excerpted from Online Classroom, 12.9 (2012): 1,3. © Magna Publications. All Rights Reserved.

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Discussion Board Assignments: Alternatives to the Question-and-Answer Format

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If you're having trouble getting students to engage in the discussion forum, perhaps it's time to rethink how you use this tool. "Think of it as a place to foster interaction between the students through a variety of means rather than just asking them questions, although that's great too," says Chris Laney, professor of history and geography at Berkshire Community College.

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"Engagement matters" research study (2018)

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"Active Learning Increases Student Performance in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics" (2014)

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CTL Instructional Methods Core Resources and CTL Blog - active learning feed.

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The teacher works with others to create a positive and safe learning environment for all. The instructor models and requires positive, respectful social interaction and clearly communicates academic expectations: homework is clearly relevant and at the appropriate level of difficulty; formative and summative assessments are designed to promote the students' ability to communicate what they have learned.

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Brame, C. (2016). Active Learning. Vanderbuilt University Center for Teaching.

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Cite this guide: Brame, C. (2016). Active learning. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/active-learning/.

What is it?

In their seminal work Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom, compiled in 1991 for the Association for the Study of Higher Education and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, Bonwell and Eison defined strategies that promote active learning as "instructional activities involving students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing" (Bonwell and Eison, 1991). Approaches that promote active learning focus more on developing students' skills than on transmitting information and require that students do something-read, discuss, write-that requires higher-order thinking. They also tend to place some emphasis on students' explorations of their own attitudes and values.

This definition is broad, and Bonwell and Eison explicitly recognize that a range of activities can fall within it. They suggest a spectrum of activities to promote active learning, ranging from very simple (e.g., pausing lecture to allow students to clarify and organize their ideas by discussing with neighbors) to more complex (e.g., using case studies as a focal point for decision-making). In their book Scientific Teaching, Handelsman, Miller and Pfund also note that the line between active learning and formative assessment is blurry and hard to define; after all, teaching that promotes students' active learning asks students to do or produce something, which then can serve to help assess understanding (2007).

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) provides a very simple definition: active learning involves "students' efforts to actively construct their knowledge." This definition is supplemented by the items that the AUSSE uses to measure active learning: working with other students on projects during class; making a presentation; asking questions or contributing to discussions; participating in a community-based project as part of a course; working with other students outside of class on assignments; discussing ideas from a course with others outside of class; tutoring peers (reported in Carr et al., 2015).

Freeman and colleagues collected written definitions of active learning from >300 people attending seminars on active learning, arriving at a consensus definition that emphasizes students' use of higher order thinking to complete activities or participate in discussion in class (Freeman et al., 2014). Their definition also notes the frequent link between active learning and working in groups.

Thus active learning is commonly defined as activities that students do to construct knowledge and understanding. The activities vary but require students to do higher order thinking. Although not always explicitly noted, metacognition-students' thinking about their own learning-is an important element, providing the link between activity and learning.

What's the theoretical basis?

Constructivist learning theory emphasizes that individuals learn through building their own knowledge, connecting new ideas and experiences to existing knowledge and experiences to form new or enhanced understanding (Bransford et al., 1999). The theory, developed by Piaget and others, posits that learners can either assimilate new information into an existing framework, or can modify that framework to accommodate new information that contradicts prior understanding. Approaches that promote active learning often explicitly ask students to make connections between new information and their current mental models, extending their understanding. In other cases, teachers may design learning activities that allow students to confront misconceptions, helping students reconstruct their mental models based on more accurate understanding. In either case, approaches that promote active learning promote the kind of cognitive work identified as necessary for learning by constructivist learning theory.

Active learning approaches also often embrace the use of cooperative learning groups, a constructivist-based practice that places particular emphasis on the contribution that social interaction can make. Lev Vygotsky's work elucidated the relationship between cognitive processes and social activities and led to the sociocultural theory of development, which suggests that learning takes place when students solve problems beyond their current developmental level with the support of their instructor or their peers (Vygotsky 1978). Thus active learning approaches that rely on group work rest on this sociocultural branch of constructivist learning theory, leveraging peer-peer interaction to promote students' development of extended and accurate mental models.

Is there evidence that it works?

The evidence that active learning approaches help students learn more effectively than transmissionist approaches in which instructors rely on "teaching by telling" is robust and stretches back more than thirty years (see, for example, Bonwell and Eison, 1991). Here, we will focus on two reports that review and analyze multiple active learning studies.

Freeman and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 225 studies comparing "constructivist versus exposition-centered course designs" in STEM disciplines (Freeman et al., 2014). They included studies that examined the design of class sessions (as opposed to out-of-class work or laboratories) with at least some active learning versus traditional lecturing, comparing failure rates and student scores on examinations, concept inventories, or other assessments. They found that students in traditional lectures were 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in courses with active learning (odds ratio of 1.95, Z = 10.4, P<<0.001). Further, they found that on average, student performance on exams, concept inventories, or other assessments increased by about half a standard deviation when some active learning was included in course design (weighted standardized mean difference of 0.47, Z = 9.781, P<<0.001). These results were consistent across disciplines: they observed no significant difference in the effects of active learning in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, math, physics, and psychology courses. They performed two analyses examining the possibility that the results were due to a publication bias (i.e., a bias toward publishing studies with larger effects), finding that there would have to be a large number of unpublished studies that observed no difference between active learning and lecturing to negate their findings: 114 reporting no difference on exam or concept inventory performance and 438 reporting no difference in failure rate. The authors conclude that the evidence for the benefits of active learning are very strong, stating that, "If the experiments analyzed here had been conducted as randomized controlled trials of medical interventions, they may have been stopped for benefit-meaning that enrolling patients in the control condition might be discontinued because the treatment being tested was clearly more beneficial."

These results support other, earlier reviews (e.g., Hake, 1998; Prince, 2004; Springer et al., 1999). In one such review, Ruiz-Primo and colleagues examined published studies examining the effects of active learning approaches in undergraduate biology, chemistry, engineering and physics courses (Ruiz-Primo et al., 2011). They identified 166 studies that reported an effect size when comparing the effects of an innovation (i.e., active learning approaches) to traditional instruction that did not include the innovation. Overall, they found that inclusion of the active learning approaches improved student outcomes (mean effect size = 0.47), although there are important caveats to consider. First, the authors coded the active learning activities as conceptually oriented tasks, collaborative learning activities, technology-enabled activities, inquiry-based projects, or some combination of those four categories, and important differences existed within the categories (for example, technology-assisted inquiry-based projects on average did not produce positive effects). Second, more than 80% of the studies included were quasi-experimental rather than experimental, and the positive benefits (average effect size = 0.26) were lower for the experimental studies in which students were randomly assigned to a treatment group. Finally, many of the studies did not control for pre-existing knowledge and abilities in the treatment groups. Nonetheless, the review does provide qualified support for the inclusion of active learning approaches in instruction.

While the two reviews reported focus on STEM disciplines and no similar reviews exist for the humanities and social sciences, the bulk of the evidence suggests that active learning approaches are effective across disciplines (Ambrose et al, 2010; Bonwell and Eison, 1991; Chickering and Gamson, 1987).

Why is it important?

In addition to the evidence that active learning approaches promote learning for all students, there is some evidence that active learning approaches are an effective tool in making classrooms more inclusive. Haak and colleagues examined the effects of active learning for students in the University of Washington's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) who were enrolled in an introductory biology course (Haak et al., 2011). Students in the EOP are educationally or economically disadvantaged, are typically the first in their families to attend college, and include most underrepresented minority students at the University of Washington. Previous work had demonstrated that the researchers could predict student grades in the introductory biology course based on their college GPA and SAT verbal score; students in the EOP had a mean failure rate of ~22% compared to a mean failure rate of ~10% for students not in the EOP. When multiple highly structured approaches to promote active learning were incorporated into the introductory biology course, all students in the course benefited, but students in the EOP demonstrated a disproportionate benefit, reducing the achievement gap to almost half of the starting level. Given the pressing need to make U.S. college classrooms more inviting and productive spaces for students from all backgrounds, these results provide another compelling reason to incorporate active learning approaches into course design.

Lorenzo, Crouch, and Mazur also investigated the impact of active learning approaches on the difference in male and female performance in introductory physics classes (2006). They found that inclusion of active engagement techniques benefited all students, but had the greatest impact on female students' performance. In fact, when they included a "high dose" of active learning approaches, the gender gap was eliminated. This result supports earlier work suggesting that women particularly benefit from active learning approaches (Laws et al., 1999; Schneider, 2001).

What are techniques to use?

Brief, easy supplements for lectures

The Pause Procedure - Pause for two minutes every 12 to 18 minutes, encouraging students to discuss and rework notes in pairs. This approach encourages students to consider their understanding of the lecture material, including its organization. It also provides an opportunity for questioning and clarification and has been shown to significantly increase learning when compared to lectures without the pauses. (Bonwell and Eison, 1991; Rowe, 1980; 1986; Ruhl, Hughes, & Schloss, 1980)

Retrieval practice-Pause for two or three minutes every 15 minutes, having students write everything they can remember from preceding class segment. Encourage questions. This approach prompts students to retrieve information from memory, which improves long term memory, ability to learn subsequent material, and ability to translate information to new domains. (Brame and Biel, 2015; see also the CFT's guide to test-enhanced learning)

Demonstrations -Ask students to predict the result of a demonstration, briefly discussing with a neighbor. After demonstration, ask them to discuss the observed result and how it may have differed from their prediction; follow up with instructor explanation. This approach asks students to test their understanding of a system by predicting an outcome. If their prediction is incorrect, it helps them see the misconception and thus prompts them to restructure their mental model.

Think-pair-share-Ask students a question that requires higher order thinking (e.g., application, analysis, or evaluation levels within Bloom's taxonomy). Ask students to think or write about an answer for one minute, then turn to a peer to discuss their responses for two minutes. Ask groups to share responses and follow up with instructor explanation. By asking students to explain their answer to a neighbor and to critically consider their neighbor's responses, this approach helps students articulate newly formed mental connections.

Peer instruction with ConcepTests-This modification of the think-pair-share involves personal response devices (e.g., clickers). Pose a conceptually based multiple-choice question. Ask students tothink about their answer and vote on a response before turning to a neighbor to discuss. Encourage students to change their answers after discussion, if appropriate, and share class results by revealing a graph of student responses. Use the graph as a stimulus for class discussion. This approach is particularly well-adapted for large classes and can be facilitated with a variety of tools (e.g., Poll Everywhere, TopHat, TurningPoint). More information is available in the CIRTL MOOC An Introduction t o Evidence-Based College STEM Teaching. (Fagen et al., 2002; Crouch and Mazur, 2001)

Minute papers -Ask students a question that requires them to reflect on their learning or to engage in critical thinking. Have them write for one minute. Ask students to share responses to stimulate discussion or collect all responses to inform future class sessions. Like the think-pair-share approach, this approach encourages students to articulate and examine newly formed connections. (Angelo and Cross, 1993; Handelsman et al., 2007)

Activities to replace some lecture

Strip sequence -Give students the steps in a process on strips of paper that are jumbled; ask them to work together to reconstruct the proper sequence. This approach can strengthen students' logical thinking processes and test their mental model of a process. (Handelsman et al., 2007) An example from Aarhus University is provided below.

Concept map-Concept maps are visual representations of the relationships between concepts. Concepts are placed in nodes (often, circles), and the relationships between indicated by labeled arrows connecting the concepts. To have students create a concept map, identify the key concepts to be mapped in small groups or as a whole class. Ask students to determine the general relationship between the concepts and to arrange them two at a time, drawing arrows between related concepts and labeling with a short phrase to describe the relationship. By asking students to build an external representation of their mental model of a process, this approach helps students examine and strengthen the organization within the model. Further, it can emphasize the possibility of multiple "right" answers. More information and a tool to do online concept mapping can be found at the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition. (Novak and Canas, 2008) An example is shown below.

Mini-maps. Mini-maps are like concept maps, but students are given a relatively short list of terms (usually 10 or fewer) to incorporate into their map. To use this approach, provide students a list of major concepts or specific terms and ask them to work in groups of two or three to arrange the terms in a logical structure, showing relationships with arrows and words. Ask groups to volunteer to share their mini-maps and clarify any confusing points. Mini-maps have many of the same strengths as concept maps but can be completed more quickly and thus can serve as part of a larger class session with other learning activities. (Handelsman et al., 2007)

Categorizing grids. Present students with a grid made up of several important categories and a list of scrambled terms, images, equations, or other items. Ask students to quickly sort the terms into the correct categories in the grid. Ask volunteers to share their grids and answer questions that arise. This approach allows students to express and thus interrogate the distinctions they see within a field of related items. It can be particularly effective at helping instructors identify misconceptions. (Angelo and Cross, 1993)

Student-generated test questions. Provide students with a copy of your learning goals for a particular unit and a figure summarizing Bloom's taxonomy (with representative verbs associated with each category). Challenge groups of students to create test questions corresponding to your learning goals and different levels of the taxonomy. Consider having each group share their favorite test question with the whole class or consider distributing all student-generated questions to the class as a study guide. This approach helps students consider what they know as well as implications of the instructor's stated learning goals. (Angelo and Cross, 1993)

Decision-making activities. Ask students to imagine that they are policy-makers who must make and justify tough decisions. Provide a short description of a thorny problem, ask them to work in groups to arrive at a decision, and then have groups share out their decisions and explain their reasoning. This highly engaging technique helps students critically consider a challenging problem and encourages them to be creative in considering solutions. The "real-world" nature of the problems can provide incentive for students to dig deeply into the problems. (Handelsman et al., 2007)

Content, form, and function outlines. Students in small groups are asked to carefully analyze a particular artifact-such as a poem, a story, an essay, a billboard, an image, or a graph-and identify the "what" (the content), the "how" (the form), and the function (the why). This technique can help students consider the various ways that meaning is communicated in different genres. (Angelo and Cross, 1993)

Case-based learning. Much like decision-making activities, case-based learning presents students with situations from the larger world that require students to apply their knowledge to reach a conclusion about an open-ended situation. Provide students with a case, asking them to decide what they know that is relevant to the case, what other information they may need, and what impact their decisions may have, considering the broader implications of their decisions. Give small groups (3-5) of students time to consider responses, circulating to ask questions and provide help as needed. Provide opportunities for groups to share responses; the greatest value from case-based learning comes from the complexity and variety of answers that may be generated. More information and collections of cases are available at the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science and World History Sources.

Discussion techniques

Many faculty members dispense with lecture altogether, turning to discussion to prompt the kinds of thinking needed to build understanding. Elizabeth Barkley provides a large collection of discussion techniques focused on different learning goals, ranging from lower level to higher level thinking (Barkley, 2010). The CFT's Joe Bandy has summarized some of the most useful of these techniques.

Other approaches

There are other active learning pedagogies, many of which are highly structured and have dedicated websites and strong communities. These include team-based learning (TBL), process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL), peer-led team learning, and problem-based learning (PBL). Further, the flipped classroom model is based on the idea that class time will be spent with students engaged in active learning.

How should you get started?

Start small, start early, and start with activities that pose low risk for both instructors and students. The Pause Procedure, retrieval practice, minute papers, and the think-pair-share technique provide easy entry points to incorporating active learning approaches, requiring the instructor to change very little while providing students an opportunity to organize and clarify their thinking. As you begin to incorporate these practices, it's a good idea to explain to your students why you're doing so; talking to your students about their learning not only helps build a supportive classroom environment, but can also help them develop their metacognitive skills (and thus their ability to become independent learners).

As you consider other active learning techniques to use, use the " backwards design" approach: begin by identifying your learning goals, think about how you would identify whether students had reached them (that is, how you might structure assessment), and then choose an active learning approach that helps your students achieve those goals. Students typically have positive responses to active learning activities that are meaningful, appropriately challenging, and clearly tied to learning goals and assessments (see, for example, Lumpkin et al., 2015). Finally, consult colleagues within your department and the Center for Teaching for help and feedback as you design and implement active learning approaches.

Other sources of information

There are many great sites that provide examples of active learning activities. Here is a sampling:

References

Ambrose, S.A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M.C., Norman, M.K., and Mayer, R.E. (2010). How learning works: seven research-based principles for smart teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Angelo, T.A. and Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: a handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Barkley, E. (2010). Student engagement techniques: a handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bonwell, C. C., and Eison, J.A. (1991). Active learning: creating excitement in the classroom. ASH#-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1, Washington, D.C.: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.

Brame, C.J. and Biel, R. (2015). Test-enhanced learning: the potential for testing to promote greater learning in undergraduate science courses. CBE Life Sciences Education, 14, 1-12.

Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., and Cocking, R.R. (Eds.) (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Carr, R., Palmer, S., and Hagel, P. (2015). Active learning: the importance of developing a comprehensive measure. Active Learning in Higher Education 16, 173-186.

Chickering, A.W. and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin March 1987, 3-7

Crouch, C.H. and Mazur, E. (2001). Peer instruction: ten years of experience and results. Am. Journal of Physics 69, 970-977.

Fagen, A.P., Crouch, C.H., and Mazur, E. (2002). Peer instruction: results from a range of classrooms. Physics Teacher 40, 206-209.

Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., and Wenderoth, M.P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111, 8410-8415.

Haak, D.C., HilleRisLambers, J., Pitre, E., and Freeman, S. (2011). Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology. Science 332, 1213-1216.

Hake, R. (1998). Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics 66, 64-74.

Handelsman, J., Miller, S., and Pfund, C. (2007). Scientific teaching. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Hyman, R.T. (1980). Improving discussion leadership. New York: Columbia University Teachers College Press.

Laws, P., Rosborough P, and Poodry, F. (1999).Women's responses to an activity-based introductory physics program. American Journal of Physics 67, S32-S37.

Lorenzo, M., Crouch, C.H., Mazur, E. (2006). Reducing the gender gap in the physics classroom. American Journal of Physics 74, 118-122.

Lumpkin, A., Achen, R., and Dodd,R. (2015). Student perceptions of active learning. College Student Journal 49, 121-133.

Novak, J.D. and Canas, A.J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them. Technical Report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 2008-01 (retrieved from http://cmap.ihmc.us/docs/theory-of-concept-maps).

Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education 93, 223-231.

Rowe, M.B. (1980). Pausing principles and their effects on reasoning in science. In Teaching the Sciences, edited by F. B. Brawer. New Directions for Community Colleges No. 31. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ruhl, K., Hughes, C.A., and Schloss, P.J. (1987). Using the Pause Procedure to enhance lecture rcall. Teacher Education and Special Education 10, 14-18.

Ruiz-Primo, M.A., Briggs, D., Iverson, H., Talbot, R., Shepard, L.A. (2011). Impact of undergraduate science course innovations on learning. Science 331, 1269-1270.

Schneider, M. (2001). Encouragement of women physics majors at Grinnell College: A case study. Phys. Teach. 39, 280-282.

Springer, L., Stanne, M.E., Donovan, S.S. (1999). Effects of small-group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Rev. Educ. Res. 69, 21-51.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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by Cynthia J. Brame Print Version Cite this guide: Brame, C. (2016). Active learning. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/active-learning/. What is it? What's the theoretical basis? Is there evidence that it works? Why is it important? What are techniques to use? How should you get started?

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Huglin, L. (n.d.). Active Learning Strategies for Large Group Instruction. University of Michigan Center for Educational Innovation.

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The 5 Levels of Engagement by Schlechty:  A Simple Guide

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Conexiones: The Learning Sciences Platform

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Intro Principles of Mind, Brain, and Education Science by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.

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Feed of Teaching in Higher Ed Student Engagement podcasts
and Instructional Methods

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Podcast Category: Instructional methods - Teaching in Higher Ed

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Blended learning Connected learning Digital literacy Educational technology Online learning Open education

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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Most faculty would agree that having great content without a clear delivery processes is not good. So, here are a few quick tips/steps to guide, inspire, and spark your creativity about how to engage students in your online courses.

1. Provide lecture outlines

Students come into your online class wanting to know what's going to happen, and an outline is a helpful, courteous way to inform them. A course syllabus can include the course objectives, main subject points/ideas or perspectives, reminders of assignments and due dates as well as information about office hours, technical support contact information, and student support services. This can be condensed into a brief outline with clear links that navigate to each section of the syllabus it refers to. A lecture outline, however, is more than just your abbreviated lecture notes. It's a way to engage students and provide resources beyond the online classroom experience. This practice benefits students, faculty, and the institution by facilitating ongoing connections within and beyond time spent on an LMS (learning management system) or virtual class platform. Greater connection can be made by including a link to a two-minute, pre-class video covering that day's topic, a supplemental video covering aspects of the topic, sample "hmm" questions, and supplemental short reads about the topic, just to name a few.

2. Use pre-course videos and subject matter video constructively

Pre-course videos are an effective way to engage students as they provide a greater sense of ease regarding the subject matter. Log in at least 10 minutes before class and start the supplemental or required video related to the course objective. Then, as students enter class, they are engaged with informative content. Get your students thinking and allow them some time to settle into the learning space. Providing them with a complimentary online experience is a helpful way to tap into this aspect of the "traditional" higher education learning environment. Students may even show up early once they realize that there will be a pre-class video. When possible, locate videos that are created by students who reflect the diversity within your class, speak to the content of the course, and provides a transcript of the video for students who may need this modality to fully participate. Videos, such as TED-X, are great conversational videos that allow students to examine, reflect, and create questions that will be a great introduction to the topic.

3. Lecture in bursts

Any student will tell you that if you are talking to them nonstop for more than 10 minutes, they are not listening. And since most college professors are not Kevin Hart or Dave Chappelle, it's best to lecture in bursts. Break the monotony and provide students with opportunities to interact with each other with a short group activity and then reconvene as a class and report each group's findings (for example, you can use breakout rooms in your LMS or real-time video platform).

4. Have PowerPoint and other resources ready

Student engagement increases when they have multiple learning tools, such as PowerPoints that provide sketches, critical concepts/terminology, and key questions. Use the PowerPoint slides as a guide, however, and be selective about when you use them (i.e., not for the majority of the class meeting time, if at all possible-think about the level of your own engagement in webinars that followed a "PowerPoint Only" model). Provide copies of all PowerPoints inside your LMS and remind students that they can review slides later. Include key questions within the PowerPoint as these can shore up opportunities for interaction during the course and allow you to gauge student attention. Students also love short videos and recaps. Before uploading your slides, provide narration on each slide. Students will appreciate the engagement and the personal touch that narration brings to your course.

5. Poll while you lecture

We absolutely love this feature. If you have not used polling before, you may be surprised at how easy it is to implement. If you already have scripted questions inserted within your PowerPoints, adding a poll provides opportunities for students to actively engage with the material. You can ask on-the-spot questions or have them scripted (we may sound like a broken record here but just make sure your on-the-spot questions are presented in a way that allows students with visual or oral impairments to participate). Importantly, the poll can be published for students to view when it is finished. In addition to having information about who was engaged, you will have information about who was not-this can be key in your efforts to make sure students do not "check out."

6. Post shared notes

Any content that students must or should have can be provided to them in shared notes. Shared notes can be posted in the Chat, uploaded as an attachment, or if you have a shared notes feature in your LMS, provided for students to follow your lecture. These breadcrumbs let students know what you intend to cover and may lessen anxiety about sitting through a course with no idea of what's next. Again, accessibility is key here. Your institution's teaching and learning professionals and/or student accessibility professionals would love to assist you in ensuring that all of your students have a rich academic experience.

7. Plan scheduled breaks for student interactions

Facilitating a course online can be exhausting. A traditional lecture consists of you showing up with your materials, notes, and handouts, and then presenting/sharing knowledge about your subject matter and facilitating student feedback and discussions. However, in an online environment you are also a technical expert, managing multiple processes for student engagement. Therefore, be sure to schedule breaks before the course, mid-course, and even at the end of the course. Here's how that looks:

Pre-course: Get students engaged and excited by sharing a song, video, or other media resource. You can reserve your energy, excitement, and enthusiasm and channel that into the lecture.

Mid-course: Create group assignments prior to the course that allows students opportunities to showcase their work and perspectives.

Post-course: Encourage students to do a course wave. For example, if students have their cameras turned off during the course to conserve broadband, let them turn them on for a quick face meet.

8. Have fun and prepare to entertain!

I (Toni) am an entertaining professor-it's my true calling and I have student testimonials to support my claim. But for many of my colleagues who are not and know they are not, think about what truly makes you excited about your course...every instructor has personal (and perhaps even funny!) stories to tell that connects who they are as people with the content, which in turn can create connections with/and for students. I feel the need to provide a disclaimer before I go any further. This point is not intended to take away the serious nature of higher education, your role as a subject matter expert, or a serious scholar. With that said, just imagine you're the student. How would you feel about coming to your online class? That is the tough question you need to consider, especially if you are serious about engaging today's students. The answer should be that you realize how important it is for you to have fun and connect with your students. If you grew up when there were rotary phones with dial tones, electric typewriters, and beepers, just know this generation appreciates instructors who bring their whole selves to the classroom. If you have a knack for comedic delivery, use it! And, even if you don't, watching a few YouTube videos that highlight the basics of engaging an audience can be invaluable. The good news is if you grew up during the aforementioned times, you have a wealth of comedy and comedians-and academics to draw upon for tips on how to deliver content for entertainment. Still skeptical? As Levar Burton might say, "Don't take our word for it!" Instead, take a look at, for example, Kasha Patel's talk on the benefits of using comedy to explain science.

Tracey A. Carter is assistant professor of social science/human services and chair of the department at Allen University. She has taught online since 2018 and serves as a distance education trainer.
Heather M. Pleasants is an associate director in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at the University of Alabama. She supports undergraduate experiential learning through working with faculty, many of whom teach online. Toni Sims Muhammad is associate vice president of academic affairs and distance education at Allen University. She has actively engaged in distance education research and practice for over 20 years.

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Tracey A. Carter, Heather M. Pleasants and Toni S. Muhammad

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Student Engagement in the Online Classroom: Eight Quick Tips to Spark Students' Learning | Faculty Focus

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Most faculty would agree that having great content without a clear delivery processes is not good. So, here are a few quick tips/steps to guide, inspire, and spark your creativity about how to engage students in your online courses.

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These resources were interesting but seem more theory vs practice for my course.  I use think/pair/share and an electronic version of the fishbowl idea.   ~Erica

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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Asynchronous online discussions (AOD) are commonly used by online course instructors who want their students to reflect on the course content and express their personal understanding, while also responding to and interacting with their peers and/or instructors about the content (Milman et al., 2012). The idea behind asynchronous online discussions is that online learning takes place in a social-collaborative learning environment where online students can benefit and learn from each other's ideas and perspectives (Xie & Ke, 2011). There are many ways in which instructors might use AODs in their online courses, but traditionally, online students are asked in discussions to post once and respond a specific number of times. A challenge with this strategy is that once each student completes their postings and responses, they often quit reading, responding to, and engaging with what others say or think about the issue or topic under study, thus missing out on useful insights and experiences. One effective solution is to incorporate peer moderation or facilitation of online discussions, which I have been using in my own online courses since summer 2020 when I read Milman's (2014) article about co-facilitation of online discussions.

In my own online courses, I use student co-facilitation strategy in which two to four students work together to facilitate a particular online discussion each week (Milman, 2014). In each online discussion, my online students first individually post a reflective summary of the content (e.g., pdf readings, my lecture videos) with a specific question they pose at the end of their summary. All of these end-of-summary questions account for the questions to be discussed in each online discussion. Then, the co-facilitation is started by the assigned co-facilitators of that discussion thread and the co-facilitators start addressing their peers' questions and comments. The other students are not only required to respond to at least three peer comments or questions but also expected to respond to at least one co-facilitator comment or question to get full discussion participation credit. The co-facilitators close their discussion threads by first making a summary of what has been discussed and then posting their personal reflections on their co-facilitation experience (Milman, 2014).

How did my online students find this strategy? Well, for three semesters including spring 2021, my students reported going beyond what was required, gaining greater insights, and learning the content in depth when they were asked to co-facilitate an online discussion. Here is a snapshot of what they thought about co-facilitation in online discussions:

" With prior classes, I knew discussions posts could get monotonous, so I thought doing this would prevent that as well as improve the learning experience."

" Overall, I am really glad that we got assigned co-facilitators, not only for the ease of the assignment but also for the support system that we get setup with. Overall, a wonderful experience."

" Overall, this was a pleasant experience, I enjoyed digging a little deeper to answer my peer's questions. Some questions were a little tougher than others, but it just added to this experience."

" After co-facilitating, I can really see the value of the maxim 'the best way to learn a subject is to teach it to someone else.' It was certainly a unique challenge since I had the same foundation as my peers in this subject, yet I was tasked with engaging with my peers on a deeper level and diving further into the material. In the end, not only do I feel I had a positive impact on my peers' learning, but I better understood the material myself."

" I actually enjoyed being a co-facilitator because in most online class discussions, I will just try to make my comments and get the grade but this time I had to take a moment and think about not only my response but what other classmates had to say."

If I have you convinced (hopefully to some extent) to use co-facilitated discussions in your own online courses, here's how you can begin implementing co-facilitated discussions. Below I offer some design guidelines of co-facilitation that you can adapt to your own unique online context:

Provide an autonomy-supportive structure

At the beginning of the semester, I provide my online students (via course syllabus and intro emails) with a clear and autonomy-supportive structure guiding them step-by-step for their co-facilitation assignment. They have the full freedom and control over deciding how to co-facilitate their assigned discussions. During this planning process, I always encourage them to reach out to me if they have any questions/concerns about co-facilitating.

Basically, I expect co-facilitators to:

1. Communicate with their assigned team members, and plan and prepare for their co-facilitation by reviewing the specific content of their discussion topic

2. Equally distribute the responsibilities among themselves based on their own decisions

3. Co-facilitate their assigned discussion thread by having their peers discuss comments and questions using positive and supportive language (e.g., kindly inviting peers to discuss, posing interesting questions, making substantive comments to their peers' postings, offering practical solutions, encouraging peer participation, arousing curiosity etc.)

4. Model politeness and respect using netiquette

5. Support their peers' understanding with their substantive comments and non-judgmental responses

Provide authentic examples of co-facilitation

Students ask for concrete examples of how they should be co-facilitating a discussion, what language they should use, how they should approach a peer comment or question, etc. Give them a few examples such as the following:
That's a great point! I hadn't thought of it that way. I definitely would agree that engagement is a critical issue. What about the effect of motivation on engagement? So, to answer your question more directly, I agree that they do not create lasting effects. However, I think it gives students something to look forward to or something materialized. If you feel like it, I invite you to look at Bob's reflection where he discussed the impact of COVID on student motivation to study. I like how you talked about the example you learned in your history class and how that can be applied to what we have discussed so far in class. You definitely have a great understanding of this topic!
Keep your online presence alive

While the students are discussing and the co-facilitators are doing their jobs, I lean back and monitor each conversation just to make sure that everything is going right. I post once or twice in each discussion thread to indicate that I am there and reading their responses. I use postings such as:

" Wow, this seems to be a lively discussion going on with really interesting questions to be answered. Looking forward to the answers!"

I also send regular encouragement and appreciation emails to the co-facilitators (while their co-facilitation is going on) to show that their work and effort are greatly appreciated. This makes them feel recognized by the course instructor and gives them further motivation to do more throughout the course.

Since I started using this in summer 2020, co-facilitation has been an integral component of my online courses simply because almost of all my online students have reported positive reviews from it. Online discussions do not have to be one-way, fragmented, and boring monologues. You can easily turn them into meaningful, purposeful, and vibrant student conversations by using this co-facilitation strategy in your online courses so that your students engage more meaningfully and deeply with the content. They may also find themselves interacting more purposefully with their peers and working hard to support one another during their online learning journeys. And remember, when you assign your online students as facilitating leaders of specific discussion threads, they take greater ownership of those discussions, making them much more likely to truly engage with the learning content (Picciano, 2019).
Murat Turk is a graduate research and teaching assistant, and a digital learning designer teaching online courses at the University of Oklahoma. He designs and implements online courses based on social-collaborative and social-constructivist learning principles. He is also doing research on online presence, student motivation, and engagement in online learning environments. References (APA 7th)
Milman, N. B. (2014). Scaffolding student facilitation of online discussions. Distance Learning for Educators, Trainers, and Leaders, 11(4), 25-27. https://www.usdla.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Vol.-11-No.-4-2014.pdf

Milman, N. B., Hillarious, M., & Walker, B. (2012). An exploratory qualitative analysis of graduate student learning and division of labor resulting from student cofacilitation of an asynchronous online discussion. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 13(2), 51-64. https://jgregorymcverry.com/readings/milmanhillariouswalker2012onlinediscussions.pdf

Picciano, A. G. (2019). Online education: Foundations, planning, and pedagogy. Routledge.

Xie, K., & Ke, F. (2011). The role of students' motivation in peer-moderated asynchronous online discussions. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(6), 916-930. Professional Development Collection. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01140.x

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Co-Facilitated Discussions to Truly Engage Your Online Students with Course Content | Faculty Focus

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Asynchronous online discussions (AOD) are commonly used by online course instructors who want their students to reflect on the course content and express their personal understanding, while also responding to and interacting with their peers and/or instructors about the content (Milman et al., 2012).

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Five pandemic-introduced innovative teaching adaptations can improve student engagement in the next normal for higher education.

Credit: Ostancov Vladislav / Shutterstock.com © 2021

For higher education amid the COVID-19 pandemic, spring break 2020 heralded a sharp increase in the scope and pace of change, including social distancing and other controls to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In the span of a mere few days, faculty-in an unprecedented manner-supplanted traditional face-to- face instruction with remote synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning experiences. Out of necessity, teaching practices rapidly embraced technology-based prototypical teaching methods. Faculty and students actively began the largest-ever nontraditional teaching experiment.

Here we suggest five teaching enhancements as possible candidates for continued acceptance. All of these pandemic-introduced adaptations improve student engagement. The first four enhance student engagement during class, whereas the fifth offers engagement opportunities outside of class.

Student Engagement Adaptations

We define student engagement as a constructivist approach to teaching and learning: less "sage on the stage" and more learning by doing. The act of engaging students-for example, designing cooperative team assignments, encouraging active learning, providing multiple opportunities for spending time on the content, and respectfully welcoming the talents and ideas of all learners-is considered among the "best practice" principles in undergraduate education. We believe the following five initiatives, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, should become part of that best practice.

Collaborative Technologies for Sense-Making

COVID-19 has mandated digital collaborations that are rich in student and faculty engagement across different groups of students using technology for sense-making in social settings. Use of collaborative documents, discussion boards, slides, notes, whiteboards, and other file types not only provide a way for collaborative notetaking but also offer students and instructors a view of the process and of the output of all groups participating in an instructional activity.

Digital collaborative technologies embrace three important student engagement objectives: connecting students with the content, with the instructor, and with one another, within and across groups. Formulating, sharing, and getting feedback on responses benefits all students by increasing the exchange of ideas and approaches to the given prompt, helping students develop critical thinking skills through thoughtful peer review and analysis, and engaging them with timely feedback from expert instructors. Retaining these "blended learning" practices and additional affordances post-pandemic is worthwhile as we move to the next normal.

Student Experts for Learning and Technology Support

During the pandemic, faculty and staff were thinly stretched to meet the growing and diverse learning and technology needs of students. We have found undergraduate student experts to be a key resource. In fact, undergraduate experts are useful not only to their peers but also to their instructors.

During the pandemic, learning assistants have adapted their work to meet remote requirements and the changing needs of students. In one course, to better serve their peers' learning needs, the learning assistants across all sections combined efforts to share virtual office hours for students, sending reminders before each scheduled office hour. The course instructor reported having never seen so many students make use of office hours-his own or his assistants'.

Undergraduate learning assistants have also been called on to assist instructors in facilitating hybrid and remote instruction. They monitor questions in chat, bolster conversation in discussion forums, assist with student technology issues, and test new courseware. In another course, the assistants suggested using VoiceThread, a tool previously unknown to the instructor, so that students could upload slide presentations and submit their recorded remarks along with the slides. Other students who were enrolled in the course could then leave comments by phone, video camera, or text.

Some colleges and universities have increased their budget for student experts hired specifically to assist faculty in learning new technologies required for teaching during the pandemic. At our institution, instructors gave high praise for the expanded "Tech TA" program, which served any instructors needing assistance in getting their course technology up and running.

As we move to the next normal, higher education leaders should consider expanded roles for undergraduate experts who assist with learning and technology support. Further, leaders should diversify the population of students hired for these positions. A diverse staff of highly engaged students would be uniquely poised to know what their peers need, and as digital natives, they would be well-equipped for lending instructors a hand with setting up and using technology to expand and enrich learning opportunities for all students.

Back Channels for Informal Communication

Instructors have always been challenged to find ways to promote student participation in medium-size and large courses. We find that online students are as unlikely to unmute and share ideas in a large remote synchronous course as in-person students are to raise their hand in a live lecture. Online students are, however, willing to use digital chat and emojis, communication modes with which they are familiar and use daily to connect socially.

Chat permits instructors to engage less formally and to communicate approachability: "Are you with me, or do we need to review? If we're good, type 'yes' in chat. If my explanation missed the mark, type 'no.'" Chat interactions also invite participation in ways that seem less risky: "Did you find the assigned podcast clarifying?" or "Was the assigned problem-set a bit easier to do this week, now that we've got the basics?" As students chime in, the skillful instructor may capitalize on the momentum by asking, "What were the trickiest ideas to grasp?" Some instructors use their undergraduate course assistants to pose questions about what they recall struggling with in previous years, removing the stigma of asking a "stupid question" and paving the way for additional questions.

One colleague cleverly prerecorded lectures and then watched the recordings synchronously with the students while participating in chat. She modeled critical thinking by providing brief critiques of examples in her lecture (e.g., "That was less clear than I expected-here's a better way to put it..."), and she posted links to ads, images, headlines, movie references, and memes that pertained to the content. She reported that students engaged regularly, often offering their own examples in chat.

When used purposefully and with inclusive and respectful communication guidelines, back channels that are visible to all course participants, including the instructor, offer an important communication mode for students to interact with ideas, the instructor, and one another. We believe that back channels are valuable instructional tools, whether for learning during a pandemic or for learning in our next normal.

Digital Breakout Rooms for Collaborative Learning

Supplemental Recording for Expanded Learning Space

Our last teaching innovation offers engagement outside of class. Instructors became aware of the need to record live remote synchronous sessions shortly after spring break 2020, when distributed students encountered technical and time zone obstacles to synchronous class attendance. Supplemental recording (SR) goes beyond traditional classroom flipping. For comparison, SR captures the class session, whether flipped or not, for students unable to attend in person. SR expands and enhances learning spaces, with benefits for both students who need to repeat engagement with course content and instructors who want to review and/or analyze content delivery.

The opportunity to provide "repeat" engagement through SR precedes Covid-19. Since 2019, Edward J. Glantz has experimented with SR in face-to-face classrooms, including serving as a university Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Fellow in the year before the pandemic. This fellowship was initially motivated by a desire to use SR to include students who missed class for excused absences, including personal and family emergencies, job interviews, group activities, and conferences. Continuing engagement with these students seemed sufficient justification to investigate the use of SR.

The TLT fellowship results were quite useful when many faculty began streaming lectures for teaching during COVID-19. Early on, a colleague worried whether other students might decide not to attend class if recordings were being provided. The answer is that class attendance is not related to the availability of SR, for several reasons.

The TLT fellowship offers a few recommendations to enhance SR success. First, student awareness of SR availability and use should be promoted. Second, students prefer viewing sessions in segments, rather than from beginning to end. Instructors should take advantage of features that improve this experience-for example, displaying timestamps within the recording or even embedding the transcript text within the video. Third, some video platforms (e.g., Kaltura) can provide detailed viewership information and permit embedding questions in the video stream.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated awareness and adoption of SR among faculty teaching online. Hopefully, increased awareness of the convenience and utility of SR in engaging students outside of class will continue in the next normal.

New Traditions

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for positive change in traditional teaching methods. These adaptations can redefine engagement in and out of class while allowing learners increased flexibility and offering instructors greater ability to reach their students. These changes help faculty get away from simply measuring attendance, a poor proxy for student engagement. COVID-19 teaching has provided exposure to a host of tools supporting and tracking students' participation and gauging their understanding. Faculty have taken advantage of the disruption to experiment with and discover useful tools and techniques.

Out of necessity, faculty have become more technology-savvy as well as improvisational. This has improved their digital fluency while also increasing discovery of learning possibilities, thus raising the threshold for acceptable use of newly available tools. The urgent need to pivot during the pandemic permitted faculty to find creative ways to leverage tools to both teach course material and connect with students. This accelerated the traditionally lengthy processes required to identify, review, and approve instructional technology tools. Perhaps even more significant, faculty have been willing to share-and in some cases even brag about-their lessons learned.

To everyone's benefit, teaching in higher education has become more collaborative. Faculty members and support staff (e.g., learning designers, instructional developers, educational technology consultants, librarians) have had additional opportunities to share and discuss what is working and what needs improvement. Institutions have increased the frequency and availability of workshops, seminars, and one-on-one meetings to address the need for COVID-19 adaptations. These collaborative resources are offered along with traditional resources such as faculty development, instructional design, faculty roundtables, and listserv discussions. Higher education instruction will greatly profit by continuing these sharing opportunities.

Conclusion

Notes

1. Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson, "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education," AAHE Bulletin 39, no. 7 (March 1987).

2. Derek Bruff, "Active Learning in Hybrid and Physically Distanced Classrooms," Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching Resource, June 11, 2020.

3. Nadia Sellami et al., "Implementation of a Learning Assistant Program Improves Student Performance on Higher-Order Assessments," CBE-Life Sciences Education 16, no. 4 (March 15, 2018). See also Rachid Ait Maalem Lahcen, Ram Mohapatra, and Baiyun Chen, "Prioritizing Strategies for a Better Transition to Remote Instruction," EDUCAUSE Review, November 16, 2020.

4. Rachel Toor, "Turns Out You Can Build Community in a Zoom Classroom," Chronicle of Higher Education, June 23, 2020; Derek Bruff, "Backchannel in Education: Nine Uses," Agile Learning (blog), January 21, 2010.

5. Stephen Hersh, "Yes, Your Zoom Teaching Can Be First-Rate," Inside Higher Ed, July 8, 2020; Elizabeth Stone, "How to Overcome Classroom Zoom Fatigue," Inside Higher Education, August 19, 2020.

6. Edward J. Glantz and Chris Gamrat, "The New Post-Pandemic Normal of College Traditions," in SIGITE '20: Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference on Information Technology Education (New York: Association for Computing Machinery, October 2020).

Edward J. Glantz is Teaching Professor at The Pennsylvania State University.

Chris Gamrat is Instructional Designer at The Pennsylvania State University.

Lisa Lenze is Director of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment at The Pennsylvania State University.

Jeffrey Bardzell is Associate Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies at The Pennsylvania State University.

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improved student engagement in  higher education’s next normal

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Improved Student Engagement in Higher Education's Next Normal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Five pandemic-introduced innovative teaching adaptations can improve student engagement in the next normal for higher education. For higher education amid the COVID-19 pandemic, spring break 2020 heralded a sharp increase in the scope and pace of change, including social distancing and other controls to limit the spread of the coronavirus.