Posts Tagged ‘Classroom Discussion’

7 Strategies to Change the Norms of Class Discussions

How to Hold a Better Class Discussion

ADVICE GUIDE

https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-hold-a-better-class-discussion/

7 Strategies to Change the Norms of Class Discussions

Norm No. 1: Civil attention.

nodding their heads, taking notes, chuckling at the instructor’s attempts at humor, or making brief eye contact. And by the things they don’t do: sleeping, texting, whispering to classmates.

Norm No. 2: Consolidation of responsibility.
a few students assume responsibility for most of the discussion

  1. No. 1: Ask better questions.
  2. No. 2: Set the stage on the first day.
  3. No. 3: Use a syllabus quiz to show that you value participation.
  4. No. 4: Try a discussion about discussion.
  5. No. 5: Don’t give up on discussion in a large class.
  6. No. 6: Have students pair up.
  7. No. 7: Take the conversation online.

How to Keep a Discussion on Track

  • Slow down the dominant talkers.
  • Quizzes are good for more than just the syllabus.
  • Use discussion questions to focus their reading (and the resulting debate).
  • Shine a light on the “muddiest” point.
  • Encourage comments from students of varied backgrounds.

Should You Grade Class Discussion?

  • The argument against:
  • The argument in favor: 

What If a Student’s Remark Is Wrong or Misguided?

  • Affirm, then correct.
  • Be respectful when they’ve lost the plot.

How to Handle News Events and Controversial Topics in Class

  • When to raise controversial issues.
  • Should you stake out a position?
  • Be clear about the ground rules.
  • Ask students to take sides.

++++++++++++
more on discussions in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=discussion

student engagement in online classes

per SCSU faculty request, please have compiled literature (books and peer-reviewed articles) on:

Here some names who are well regarded in the community of online learning as specialists in online discussions:

  1. Susan Ko
    https://mplus.mnpals.net/vufind/Record/007248228
  2. Palloff and Pratt:
    https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/159169.Keith_Pratt (not sure if you are a goodreads user, I am)
    https://mplus.mnpals.net/vufind/Record/007494813

the most recent peer-reviewed literature on keywords: “engag*” + “student*” + “online” = 13K+ titles for the period 2010-2016:

http://scsu.mn/1W6Y7wF

and about 20 articles from the link above with the general search:

Record: 1

A Digital Badging Dataset Focused on Performance, Engagement and Behavior-Related Variables from Observations in Web-Based University Courses By: McDaniel, Rudy; Fanfarelli, Joseph R.. British Journal of Educational Technology, v46 n5 p937-941 Sep 2015. (EJ1071635)

Database:

ERIC

Record: 2

A Student-Centered Guest Lecturing: A Constructivism Approach to Promote Student Engagement By: Li, Lei; Guo, Rong. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, v15 Oct 2015. (EJ1060070)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 3

Creating Effective Student Engagement in Online Courses: What Do Students Find Engaging? By: Dixson, Marcia D.. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, v10 n2 p1-13 Jun 2010. (EJ890707)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 4

Effects From Student Engagement Online. ASHE Higher Education Report. Nov2014, Vol. 40 Issue 6, p67-73. 7p. DOI: 10.1002/aehe.20018.

Database:

EBSCO MegaFILE

Record: 5

Engaging Students in Online Courses By: Jacobs, Pearl. Research in Higher Education Journal, v26 Oct 2014. (EJ1055325)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 6

Engaging Students via Social Media: Is It Worth the Effort? By: Mostafa, Rania B.. Journal of Marketing Education, v37 n3 p144-159 Dec 2015. (EJ1080980)

Database:

ERIC

Record: 7

Engaging Students with Social Media By: Bal, Anjali S.; Grewal, Dhruv; Mills, Adam. Journal of Marketing Education, v37 n3 p190-203 Dec 2015. (EJ1081047)

Database:

ERIC

Record: 8

HOW TO BETTER ENGAGE ONLINE STUDENTS WITH ONLINE STRATEGIES. By: BRITT, DR. MARGARET. College Student Journal. Fall2015, Vol. 49 Issue 3, p399-404. 6p.

Database:

EBSCO MegaFILE

Record: 9

Instructor scaffolding for interaction and students’ academic engagement in online learning: Mediating role of perceived online class goal structures. By: Cho, Moon-Heum; Cho, YoonJung. Internet & Higher Education. Apr2014, Vol. 21, p25-30. 6p. DOI: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2013.10.008.

Database:

EBSCO MegaFILE

Record: 10

Measuring Student Engagement in an Online Program By: Bigatel, Paula; Williams, Vicki. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, v18 n2 Sum 2015. (EJ1065381)

Database:

ERIC

Record: 11

Measuring Student Engagement in the Online Course: The Online Student Engagement Scale (OSE) By: Dixson, Marcia D.. Online Learning, v19 n4 Sep 2015. (EJ1079585)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 12

On-Line Course Development: Engaging and Retaining Students By: Bruster, Benita G.. SRATE Journal, v24 n2 p1-7 Sum 2015. (EJ1083122)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 13

Promoting Online Students’ Engagement and Learning in Science and Sustainability Preservice Teacher Education By: Tomas, Louisa; Lasen, Michelle; Field, Ellen. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, v40 n11 Article 5 Nov 2015. (EJ1083370)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 14

Strengthening student engagement: what do students want in online courses? By: Chakraborty, Misha; Nafukho, Fredrick Muyia. European Journal of Training & Development. 2014, Vol. 38 Issue 9, p782-802. 21p. DOI: 10.1108/EJTD-11-2013-0123.

Database:

EBSCO MegaFILE

Record: 15

Student Engagement in Online Learning: What Works and Why. ASHE Higher Education Report. Nov2014, Vol. 40 Issue 6, p1-14. 14p. DOI: 10.1002/aehe.20018.

Database:

EBSCO MegaFILE

Record: 16

Student Perceptions of Twitters’ Effectiveness for Assessment in a Large Enrollment Online Course By: Rohr, Linda; Costello, Jane. Online Learning, v19 n4 Sep 2015. (EJ1079590)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 17

Techniques for Student Engagement Online. ASHE Higher Education Report. Nov2014, Vol. 40 Issue 6, p37-66. 30p. DOI: 10.1002/aehe.20018.

Database:

EBSCO MegaFILE

Record: 18

The civic-social media disconnect: exploring perceptions of social media for engagement in the daily life of college students. By: Mihailidis, Paul. Information, Communication & Society. Oct2014, Vol. 17 Issue 9, p1059-1071. 13p. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2013.877054.

Database:

EBSCO MegaFILE

Record: 19

The Online University Classroom: One Perspective for Effective Student Engagement and Teaching in an Online Environment By: Carr, Marsha. Journal of Effective Teaching, v14 n1 p99-110 2014. (EJ1060450)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

Record: 20

The Perils of a Lack of Student Engagement: Reflections of a “Lonely, Brave, and Rather Exposed” Online Instructor By: Stott, Philip. British Journal of Educational Technology, v47 n1 p51-64 Jan 2016. (EJ1086712)

Database:

ERIC

Record: 21

The VIRI (Virtual, Interactive, Real-Time, Instructor-Led) Classroom: The Impact of Blended Synchronous Online Courses on Student Performance, Engagement, and Satisfaction By: Francescucci, Anthony; Foster, Mary. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, v43 n3 p78-91 2013. (EJ1018277)
Full Text from ERIC

Database:

ERIC

======================================================

More on “Classroom Discussion and Students Participation” in this IMS blog entry:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/01/29/classroom-discussion-and-students-participation/

Classroom Discussion and Students Participation

Classroom Discussion and Students Participation: how to Secure Student Engagement to Increase Learning and Improve Teaching

  • How to increase the number of students who take part in classroom discussions
  • How to avoid the problem of dominant talkers
  • How to encourage introverted students to increase their participation in classroom discussions
  • Strategies to help your students recognize what they learned in any discussion
  • How to use the first day of the semester to engage your students—and techniques for getting them to participate right from the start
  • What common classroom practices can decrease the likelihood of a student participating in discussion?
  • What strategies can you use to overcome established classroom practices and increase student participation?
  • And how can you structure classroom discussions to better facilitate student learning?

What does Research Tell Us about Classroom Discussion? Jay Howard
http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1163&context=facsch_papers

Do College Students Participate More in Discussion in Traditional Delivery Courses or in Interactive Telecourses?
https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_higher_education/v073/73.6howard.html

facts from sociological research:

  • Gender yields mixed results
    • Males participate more frequently than females.
    • Males participate more frequently in courses taught by female instructors
    • Other studies show the opposite
  • Non traditional students participate more frequently
  • Instructors’ gender also returns mixed results
  • Class size as variable is important, smaller classes, more participation
  • Class participation – grading
    • Make the students grade themselves at the end of each class period. By making them grade themselves, they reflect and makes them more aware of their contribution.
      0 – absent
      1 – present but did not verbally participate
      2 – verbally participated one time
      3 – verbally participated more than once
      4 – made an equitable contribution to discussion in terms of both quantity and quality

 

  • The well-known and established belief that smaller classes spur more participation.
    Jay Howard maintain his sociological research in 20th centuries constants: physical classroom, no technology surrounding.
    In the 21st century, clickers changed the opportunity for immediate feedback. They changed also the discourse of the traditional student participation and classroom discussion:
    https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=clickers&submit=Search

Traditional forms and techniques for discussion and participation

Weih, T. G. (2015). Discussion Strategies for the Inclusion of ALL Students. Online Submission,
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED561060

  • Don’ts:
    call on student
    instructor’s personality issues:

Does the instructor really care of what students have to say
lecturing does not predispose to discussion

  • The 10 second rule: students discuss in pairs the concept/question
  • Think-Pair-Share: discussion strategy before or after lesson, similar to 10 second but longer
  • Quick writes: write their thoughts and then share. Loose paper, names on top,
  • Recorder-reporter. Post-lecture. The person reps the group, who is working on a specific question. Each group different question.
  • K-W-L. what we know, what we want to learn, what we learned. Teacher instructs students that K = what they know, W = what they want to learn and L = what they learned. . work in small groups, but each student works on h/er chart, thus if student disagrees with rest of the group, has record. L is left blank for after the discussion.

Simich-Dudgeon, C., & National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, W. D. (1998). Classroom Strategies for Encouraging Collaborative Discussion. Directions in Language and Education. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED435188

  • Using storytelling

Chen, W., & Looi, C. (2007). Incorporating Online Discussion in Face to Face Classroom Learning: A New Blended Learning Approach. Australasian Journal Of Educational Technology, 23(3), 307-326.
Discussions and participation in hybrid environment

Jinhong, J., & Gilson, T. A. (2014). Online Threaded Discussion: Benefits, Issues, and Strategies. Kinesiology Review, 3(4), 241-246.
http://login.libproxy.stcloudstate.edu/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26db%3ds3h%26AN%3d100248254%26site%3dehost-live%26scope%3dsite

For each OTD topic, the instructor randomly assigns two to four student discussion leaders who are in charge of organizing OTD for the assigned week. Each of the discussion leaders is asked to generate one or two discussion questions related to the topic based on reading assignments. The use of student discussion leaders is a strategy to encourage active participation and help develop ownership of learning. Once student discussion leaders post their questions, other students are encouraged to contribute to the discussion by answering each question, commenting on the ideas of others, or asking questions of peers or the instructor for the next two days. When the week’s discussion is complete, the student leaders and instructor work together to summarize the discussion and evaluate each student’s participation and contribution to the discussion using a scoring rubric. (p.242)

Implementation (p. 243):

  • preparation : On the first day of the course, the instructor introduces topics, how-tos, expectations, grading procedures, and required reading assignments for OTD, and organizes discussion leaders for each online discussion (2–4 leaders for each)
  • Opening and Responding: Posted discussion questions become open at the time of the class and students who are not the leaders are required to post at least one response per question within 48 hrs. During this time, the leaders facilitate discussion by responding to comments, raising questions, or redirecting discussion to encourage active participation and ensure the discussion is on track
  • Summary and Assessment: The job of the leader is to moderate, summarize discussion threads, and assess them at the end of the discussion. When the week’s discussion is complete, the leaders meet with the instructor to debrief and evaluate each student’s participation and contribution to the discussion using a scoring rubric given by the instructor. After the meeting, each leader posts his or her summary of the discussion to BBCMS and reports at the next in-person class.

 

  • D2L
  • Beyond CMS (D2L)

Discussions and participation in online environment

Darabi, A., Liang, X., Suryavanshi, R., & Yurekli, H. (2013). Effectiveness of Online Discussion Strategies: A Meta-Analysis. American Journal Of Distance Education, 27(4), 228-241. doi:10.1080/08923647.2013.837651

  • Beyond CMS (D2L)

Lin, P., Hou, H., Wang, S., & Chang, K. (2013). Analyzing knowledge dimensions and cognitive process of a project-based online discussion instructional activity using Facebook in an adult and continuing education course. Computers & Education, 60(1), 110-121. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07.017
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131512001819

  1. 111 results suggest that using Facebook is not necessarily harmful to a student’s learning performance. Adequate learning activity design and pedagogical goal setting could, in fact, exploit the social and information-sharing function of Facebook, thereby supporting academic learning (Gray et al., 2010). this study seeks to advance the understanding of adult learners’ behaviors in online project discussions using Facebook.

In the process of project-based learning, learners must utilize different kinds of knowledge (e.g., discrete declarative knowledge and dynamic procedural knowledge) (Lou, 2004). Meanwhile, students can develop higher level of cognitive skills for a specific domain as well as the ability to apply adequate knowledge to a specific domain or context during PBL (Barron et al., 1998; Blumenfeld et al., 1991).

  1. 118
    Select driving questions or controversial issues as project topics: Blumenfeld et al. (1991) noted that driving questions could facilitate students to explore the project topic. In the exploration process, students must first collect information and propose diverse viewpoints on the project topics. They could subsequently filter out and reach consensus during online discussions. This process involves diverse and converging phases that can move students toward higher-order thinking (Jorczak & Bart, 2009).
  2. Allow ample time for online discussion: Results of this study indicated that student online discussions lacked diversity in both knowledge and cognitive process dimensions. One possible reason could be that the allotted time for online discussions was not sufficient. Considering the multiple roles that adult learners play in family and/or work, they may not be able to respond to the discussions in a timely manner. Therefore, allowing more time for students to discuss may provide opportunities for students to demonstrate more diverse and deeper thinking (Scherling, 2011).
  3. Provide a structured rubric for online discussions: Well-designed discussion guidelines and evaluation criteria, i.e., posting protocols or rubric for grading, could serve as scaffolds for student online discussions, which may, subsequently, lead to more meaningful learning (Gilbert & Dabbagh, 2005). Following that, more diverse type of knowledge and levels of cognitive process could be expected to be shown.
  4. Pay attention to the effects that individual differences may exert on the learner’s interactions: Our results showed that, in the context of online discussions, females and older learners are more likely to have off-topic discussions than their male and/or younger counterparts. These findings are in accord with previous research that suggested effects of individual differences on learning as well as on the use of SNSs (Glynn et al., 2012; Muscanell & Guadagno, 2012; Price, 2006; Yukselturk & Bulut, 2009). Therefore, considering the potential effects that gender and age may exert on online discussions, instructors are advised to consider individual differences when grouping students for online discussions, as a balanced group composition of evenly distributed age and gender could be a better approach than a skewed distribution of individuals.

 

social interaction, which was considered as irrelevant discussion, may also leading to meaningful thinking and echoes the viewpoints from previous studies, which suggest social interaction can be a critical element in the CSCL environment (Abedin et al., 2011a, 2011b).

Incorporating online discussion in face to face classroom learning: A new blended learning approach

Wenli Chen, Chee-Kit Looi

Abstract

This paper discusses an innovative blended learning strategy which incorporates online discussion in both in-class face to face, and off-classroom settings. Online discussion in a face to face class is compared with its two counterparts, off-class online discussion as well as in-class, face to face oral discussion, to examine the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed strategy. By integrating online discussion into the flow of the classroom, learners are given dedicated time to foster a habit of critical thinking, reflection and articulating these online, which can subsequently seed further in-class oral discussions, and off-class online discussions. It is found that in-class, online discussion can provide a wider spectrum of discussion perspectives, equalise participation in discussion, and promote cognitive thinking skills and in depth information processing. However, the lack of face to face interactions and the need for sufficient time to do online postings pose challenges in implementing online discussion for face to face classroom learning.

PDF file available

=============

More on classroom discussions in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=discussions&submit=Search