Open Forums 

An open forum (variously known as a Q&A forum or an FAQ) is a place where students can ask instructors, TAs, and one another specific questions about course content and logistics, and share resources and insights. Instructor involvement in an open forum can vary greatly: You may establish the open forum, in which case monitoring and participating are important. Your students may establish the open forum on their own (probably with Discord). If that’s the case, engage with caution. In either case, an open forum can be an effective tool for building and sustaining community—to the extent that students feel comfortable and participate frequently.

Best Practices:

• In an instructor-initiated open forum, timeliness is important, but the forum shouldn’t control you. Schedule a short amount of time each day (not necessarily including weekends) to check the forum. If you have teaching assistants, ask them to do the same. 

• Let students answer their classmates’ questions. Be prepared to intervene if a question has been answered incompletely or incorrectly, but tread lightly otherwise. An open forum works better if students help one another. 

• Don’t join a student-initiated forum unless students ask you to. 

• An open forum is an informal space, but establishing community standards and providing instruction on proper posting is of utmost importance, whether you or your students initiated the forum. 

• For more information about managing discussions, see Management