Faculty Role in the Discussion

Tips for Engaging the Online Learner in Discussions*

1. Hosting effective discussions require directing traffic.  Remember to specify what, who, and when in your directions.  The three key elements are:

   1. The prompt (the initial question)

   2. The response (peer and faculty replies)

   3. Timing (faculty engagement in the process)

2. Be direct in assigning actions.  Instead of asking "What did you think about...?", phrase questions using verbs like "find," "explain," "describe," "identify," and "compare and contrast" to give students the message that real work is done in these discussions.  

   1. Samples:

      1. "Find 3 quotes that interested you and why?"

      2. "Locate 3 quotes that surprised you and why?"

3. Develop student interactivity by varying the directions.  

   1. Samples:

      1. "Identify or locate a ____ that no one else has found."

      2. "Describe the ____ in a way that no one else has discussed."

4. Consider employing the 3C + Q method created by Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell.  Each student reply must include all of the following to each peer reply:

   1. Compliment

   2. Comment

   3. Connection

   4. Question

5. Consider prompting students to end each initial discussion post with questions for their peers to reply.  For example "After your initial post, students are to post 2 thoughtful questions to your peers on this topic for their reply."

Be Present 

Faculty members are on the front line of meeting the increasingly important retention effort for students who enroll in online courses.   Instructors who play an active role and regularly interact with students set the tone for a good learning experience in that online classroom.  

Critical success factors for retention in online courses include student-student interaction, faculty-class interaction and, most importantly, feedback from faculty to student. Faculty participation in discussion forums is a critical factor in the facilitator-student engagement within the course.  

Regular facilitator participation in chats, forums and discussions is required all IU online course offerings, keeping in mind that this presence may look different based on course content and the nature of the overall discussion.  

Facilitate

“Regular” participation does not equal responding to every post in a discussion forum, rather it should be substantive interaction. Meaning, as you would in a classroom, you should be guiding discussions strategically and constructively.  Provide regular, positive, and specific feedback to your students during forums, discussion and or chat sessions. The goal is for students to receive a minimum of one direct reply per week per discussion. In a given thread, it should be apparent that the facilitator is also an active participant in these activities. It is imperative that the facilitator’s voice is present within each thread.  In the classroom, this would equate with speaking directly with each student regularly, at least twice per week.

Consider the following example on how to best manage your IU online classroom to ensure valuable engagement:

Week 1: 

Faculty set the tone for the class forums for that week and should actively respond to each thread quickly demonstrating to the class the level of expected involvement.  Reinforce expectations for their posts, make suggestions for improvements and guide the reinforcement of the course material.  Reply to the students as the discussion occurs and insist on their adherence to the IU Discussion Board Policy (quick linked in the top of your course).  Be specific in your feedback and consider using the "Private Reply" feature to maintain their privacy if necessary in the public forum.  

Subsequent Weeks (2-14):

Reply publicly at least to each student thread for the week. Guide the conversation as you would if in a classroom setting. Reply regularly, but allow the conversation to evolve naturally.  Coach the exchange, prompt further reflection and where necessary, bring the conversation back to the discussion topic where warranted. 

Mix Things Up:

Video discussion has been shown to reduce students’ feelings of isolation and increase students’ social presence more than traditional text-based discussions (Clark, Strudler, & Grove, 2015). Consider alternating between written and video responses to discussion prompts each week to reduce students’ feelings of isolation and increase students’ social presence more than traditional text-based discussions.  See How-To Post in a Forum for instructions (published in the Discussion Board Policy site).  

Grade Carefully

Be sure to conform your evaluation of student work on discussion boards to the specified grading criteria, especially when evaluating the first week’s work. Careful adherence to the grading guidelines from the start will set the tone for the balance of the course and encourage students’ use of best practices for online discussion, outlined in the Student Hub. 

Submit grades quickly and with careful consideration of the submissions.  The grade will either reinforce current strong student engagement (high rating) or indicate to the student need for improvement (low rating).  

Insist on Netiquette

Students should be reminded that there are behavioral expectations for when they both create initial posts and respond to each other’s posts. The goal is to create discussion among peers, not just to post for the sake of posting. Being thoughtful and respectful includes an awareness of netiquette, and overall, facilitators and students are required to:

• • Approach every person with respect

  • Discuss issues and not personalities

  • Co-create, as a community of students, an environment conducive to learning

  • Observe "Netiquette" - Online learners are encouraged to follow appropriate net etiquette – or “netiquette” – guidelines for any online posts (not on discussion boards but emails and other engagement with the class). For a list of appropriate guidelines, please read The Core Rules of Netiquette.

Remind Students – Discussion Boards are Public

Messages posted in the Discussion boards are public messages; therefore, students and faculty should be mindful that anything they write in this area will be viewable by the entire class (or, in the case of a group discussion, by all assigned group members). 

Set the Tone

Hold the students strongly accountable to the Discussion Board Policy at the beginning of each course to set the tone for performance over the entire course.  Establishing standards for level of performance and engagement ensures that the forums mirror the in-class experience and establishes parallel delivery of course content as published in the course description.