I have just read an article by Carol B. MacKnight called 'Teaching Critical Thinking through Online Discussions'. I was drawn to this article because I teach online and I have started using online discussions more and more. The trouble that I have with asynchronous semester long classes is keeping everyone on track. I am not sure if the notion is that because it is online it will be easier or that there are no due dates so you can work on it whenever you want, or what. Every semester I am baffled by students who have 5 hours of release time in their schedule yet they inevitably fall behind quickly and then cram in a 100 hour course into two weeks.
In my reflections I thought that perhaps the reason that so many students fall behind was because they didn't have the same interaction they would in a face to face class. It would, I thought, be easier to forget about an online class because no one is there to hound you to get things done. Don't get me started on how frustrating it is to feel that your job as an online teacher is to be 50% nag. In any case, I thought that the lack of community could be one of the contributors to students procrastinating with their online classes. So this semester I have included a weekly discussion board that the students must participate in. They have to post their original post by Wednesday of the week and then they have to respond to at least 3 other student’s posts by the end of the week. The discussion board is only available for one week so if they miss out they cannot go back and respond or earn any marks for that week’s discussion board.
I have to say in some of my online classes it is working better than others. In Psychology 20 it is working very well. The students are actively participating and creating community with each other and there are only a small group of students (maybe 2 or 3) who are not keeping up with the other assignments. In Cosmetology 10 however it is a bit different. We are week 4 into the course and I still have to remind the students to participate in the discussion board and keep up with assignments. I wouldn't say that the Cosmetology course is any tougher than the Psychology course, perhaps just the opposite, so I am not sure what the difference in subject area would be. So I got to thinking that perhaps the discussion board topics are not as engaging in Cosmetology.
This brings me to the recent article that I read about teaching critical thinking through online discussions. MacKnight talks about how critical thinking "is a standard of intellectual excellence required for full participation in the social, economic, and political life of our society" (pg. 38). So if critical thinking is required for full participation in society then perhaps critical thinking is required for full participation in online courses as well. MacKnight quotes Gokhale as saying "Proponents of collaborative learning claim that the active exchange of ideas within small groups not only increases interest amount the participants but also promotes critical thinking". Ok, voila! This is the answer to my non participation in some of my online classes.
How can I incorporate collaborative learning in my courses? MacKnight has a few suggestions:
- Small group discussions led by an instructor or group leader.
- Buzz groups consisting of two people who discuss issues or problems for a short period.
- Case discussions using real or simulated complex problems to be analyzed in detail and a solution or decision offered.
- Debating teams where students improve their critical thinking skills by formulating ideas, defending their positions, and countering the opposition's reasoning or conclusions.
- Jigsaw groups where members break into subgroups to discuss various parts of a topic and then are responsible for presenting or teaching the information to others members.
- Mock trials where students assume the various roles of individuals in a real trial setting.
(pg 40)
MacKnight goes on to say that, "unless the pedagogical role of faculty includes modeling, coaching, questioning, reflection, and task structuring, it will be difficult for online discussions to escape the superficiality of classroom talk" (pg. 41). Yikes, I think that may be the problem for my discussions for Cosmetology 10, they have not evolved past the superficiality of classroom talk. Ok then, back to the drawing board to try and find more compelling discussion board topics that will dive further into critical thinking.
Does anyone have any sure fire discussion board ideas that work for them or ideas that will keep asynchronous students in about the same place at the same time, keeping in mind that I don’t want to turn my 50% nag role into 75% nag?
Article Reference:
Teaching Critical Thinking through Online Discussions, Carol B. MacKnight
4 comments:
I would like to think that good discussion can happen online. I think I've had some good online discussions in the past, but I do think it is more difficult than in-person discussions. We at the Great Books Foundation are very interested in promoting online discussion and hope you can give us tips.
At the heart of all Great Books programs is Shared Inquiry, a distinctive method of learning in which participants search for answers to fundamental questions raised by a text. The success of Shared Inquiry depends on a special relationship between the leader and the group. Shared Inquiry leaders do not impart information or present their own opinions, but guide participants in reaching their own interpretations. They do this by posing thought-provoking questions and by following up purposefully on what participants say.
Please let us know how you do.
This is really quite an excellent post - reflective, informative as well as encouraging comments by asking questions.
I'm with MacKnight here and have to say, this is a struggle for an online-only course (as against F2F or combination of both, i.e. Blended Learning). Having worked in the IT industry, I know that task and time management are skills not everyone have as well as very much learn-able. As an educator, you have this opportunity to teach the skill. You're sort of doing it already via the discussion board but maybe there's not enough at stake. My suggestions are encapsulated in this post Managing tasks and time in PBL. Feel free to read the rest of my PBL series as well.
Critical thinking - like task and time management - is also a teachable skill. I've blogged about it here too How can we teach critical and creative thinking. Most people, I've realised, don't know how to ask questions to get the answers they want. Questioning is a skill and you can model that. Maybe instead of 'nag' you can post questions - nags but really feedback and encouragement.
I'm not going to add any more links as it might get blocked. However, I want to add that my recent post on empathy is a product of online discussions via Twitter and my blog. It is possible and worthwhile.
All the best and maybe I'll drop by in again. Maybe, tweet me if you want future comments. ;)
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I really enjoyed reading your critical and creative thinking post. It is a work in progress but already I am noticing a difference in the students engagement with the discussion boards.
Great that you can see improvements. Perhaps towards the end of the course you can ask for student feedback on what they found effective for their learning. This may not necessarily correspond with 'fun' in their minds.
See you around. AND I would love your comments in my blog too - fire away and challenge my thinking as well!
Or, you could do the same via twitter. I'm @malynmawby in Twitter.
cheers,
Malyn
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