Discussion Boards-Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking in

Action

Ida M. Jones, J.D.

Craig School of Business

California State University, Fresno

idaj@csufresno.edu

How many of you use technology to teach? What kinds?

Effective Teaching and Learning

• Lectures• Manage learning• Control amount of info• How learners get the info• Present to large numbers of learners

• Socratic method: questions and answers under fire; probing to encourage learning

How does Learning Occur?Orally delivered content

Students listen, discuss in person

Students • watch, • take notes, • follow instructor modeling analysis

2 Learning Theories

info

infoConstructivism

Objectivism

info

Learning Theory-Deeper Learning

vs

Surface learning

Deep learning

Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

• “encourages contact between students and faculty• develops reciprocity and cooperation among students, • encourages active learning, • gives prompt feedback, • emphasizes time on task, • communicates high expectations, and• respects diverse talents and ways of learning. ”

(Chickering, A. W., and Gamson, Zelda F. (1999), available at: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm,

Development and Adaptations of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching & Learning(80), 7.)

What is an Online Discussion Board?

• Threaded discussion, e.g.• Blackboard, discussion forum• Google Groups

• Asynchronous• One person posts a thread

• Others respond• Written rather than oral

• Flexible

Collaborative Quizzes(Sample Attached to Handout)

• Collaborate to develop answers • Basic questions• Some case discussions

• Randomly assigned groups of 5-7 • Each week,

• Discuss answers to quiz questions • Prepare a group answer to each question.

• The individual quiz -3 randomly selected questions• Grades based on results of

• Writing original answers• Commenting/adding to other answers• Developing group answers• Taking quiz; submitting group answers as responses

COLLABORATIVE QUIZZES-STUDENT EVALUATIONS OF EFFECTIVENESS

Overall, the group quizzes were an effective way to learn the material.

Agree48%

Disagree4%

Neither Agree nor Disagree

22%

Strongly Agree22%

Strongly Disagree

4%

Agree

Disagree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

BA88Fall 2008

70% agreed/strongly

agreed

Overall, the members of my group helped to keep me engaged and participating in productive dialogue. BA88F08

Strongly Agree43%

Agree26%

Neither Agree nor Disagree

13%

Disagree9%

Strongly Disagree9%

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

BA88Fall 2008

69% agreed/strongly

agreed

Overall, the members of my group were helpful in identifying areas of agreement and disagreement on

course topics that helped me to learn.

Agree. 33%

Disagree. 8%

Neither Agree nor Disagree.

13%

Strongly Agree. 46%

Agree

Disagree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Strongly Agree

BA88Fall 2008

79% agreed/strongly

agreed

Review of Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

• “encourages contact between students and faculty• develops reciprocity and cooperation among students, • encourages active learning, • gives prompt feedback, • emphasizes time on task, • communicates high expectations, and• respects diverse talents and ways of learning. ”

(Chickering, A. W., and Gamson, Zelda F. (1999), available at: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm,

Development and Adaptations of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching & Learning(80), 7.)

Lessons Learned-1• Length of time to learn

• Fall 2006; all semester• Fall 2008; by the 2nd of 5 lessons

• Students were initially reluctant to post comments, especially constructive criticism of the information posted by members of their groups.

• Organization• Fall 2006: Students were unwilling to set internal

deadlines to complete work. They were much more comfortable with instructor-established deadlines.

• Fall 2008: were different and much more collaborative

Lessons Learned-2• Students’ preparation for discussions that

involved deeper learning were better after they worked on the collaborative quizzes.

• Those students who worked on the quizzes • performed better on exams. It’s not clear yet

whether that was because they were better students overall, or whether the quiz format helped them.

• Engaged in in-depth critical analysis

Now, it’s your turn!

• Use the handout to create your own discussion assignment• Purpose• Length of time• Easy to difficult questions

• Turn to the person next to you and explain your assignment

Questions and Comments