Using Discussion Boards
“Discussion is one of the most effective ways to make students aware of the range of interpretations that are possible in an area of intellectual inquiry.” (Brookfield, 2005, p. 22).The Discussion Board tool is an asynchronous communication tool for staff and students within a given vUWS site. It facilitates threaded discussions and forums, whereby the messages can be organised to show the order of discussion among any number of topics or questions. This is a one‐to‐many communication tool. Instructors can use the Discussions tool to: Facilitate conversations Promote staff to student interaction Promote student to student interaction An example of a Discussion Forum, using the Discussion Board tool in vUWS.Strategies for teaching and learning
Assessment: A students ‘contribution to a discussion topic can be graded and form part of their assessment. This can increase the frequency and depth of student participation. In order for a Gradable Discussion Board to be effective, it is important that students have a clear understanding of expectations which can best be achieved with a rubric and the inclusion of modelled responses.
Building community and collaboration: Facilitating interactive discussion among students and staff based on topics/subject matters promotes collaboration and a sense of community. Owens (2009) explains that, “in the online learning
environment, the discussion takes on a new level of importance for the physically dispersed learners to build a sense of community. It is where they connect with
other learners; share their personal experience, opinions, and thoughts; explore new concepts; and deepen their understanding of the material.” Allowing students to take their time to frame their thoughts prior to adding them to a discussion board can be especially appealing to students from NESB or those who have difficulty in expressing their views in a public forum. It can encourage greater participation in students as it can allow them more time to think about and research their responses before posting it online. Active learning: Posing higher order thinking questions can encourage critical thinking and the use of wide ranging dialog. Students are able to develop Educational Valuable Talk (EVT), which is a depiction of text‐based communication and as Uzuner (2007, p.402) states, students “collaboratively display constructive, and at times, critical engagement with the ideas or key concepts that make up the topic of an online discussion, and build knowledge through reasoning, articulation, creativity, and reflection.” It is therefore important to carefully plan activities and assessments when utilising the Discussion Board tool to ensure that students are able to achieve learning outcomes and objectives required and also to engage with their content and the learning experience. Based on Uzuner’s research, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (2008) developed a table (below) which outlines guidelines for developing higher order thinking questions that encourage exemplary discussion postings. Guidelines for exemplary posting and discussion board creation: Indicator Defined Analytical Interpretation of content through the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of others’ understanding. Argumentation Expressing reasoning (with analogies, casual, inductive and/or deductive reasoning etc) to trigger discussion. Critical Challenging or counter‐challenging statements/ideas proposed by others OR playing devil’s advocate. Explanatory Chain of connected messages intended to explain/make clear OR statements serving to elaborate on the ideas suggested in previous posts. Exploratory Recognition of some confusion/curiosity or perplexity as a result of a problem/issue arising out of an experience/course readings; posing a problem and enticing others to take a step deeper into it.
Heuristic Expressing discovery (similar to ―A ha! moments or expressions like ―I find it!); direc ng others’ a en on to a newly discovered idea. Implicative Assertions that call for action OR statements whereby participants formulate a proposal/decision about how to achieve a certain end based on the insights they gained from the coursereadings/discussions. Informative Providing information from literature and relating it to course content/topic of discussion. Interpretive Interpretation of formal content through opinions that are supported by relevant examples, facts, or evidence. Invitational Inviting others to think together, to ponder, to engage by asking questions, requiring information, opinion or approval. Reflective Examination of past events, practices (why/how they happened) or understandings in relation to formal content. Be wary of the following types of posts and questions, as they may not result in positive discussion board outcomes: Indicator Defined Affective Short posts that ONLY contain a statement of personal feelings (likes & dislikes). Short posts that ONLY contain appraisal (praising & thanking someone). Questions or comments that add social presence to the discussion but do not contribute new information. Experiential Posts that only contain personal experiences, narratives, descriptions that are not followed by reflection Judgmental Short posts that ONLY contain brief statements of agreement without elaboration. Short posts that ONLY contain brief statements of disagreement without elaboration. Reproductional Repeating/reproducing the ideas mentioned/proposed in the previous posts without elaboration. Provide feedback: Discussion boards can be used to provide answers or feedback to postings or questions from students. This can give students direction or the benefit of addition information to address thought processes or opinions. Facilitating private group discussions for group work and tasks or by creating an anonymous topic provides a forum for students to provide feedback to their peers. The other added advantage of allowing students to respond to each other’s postings is that it provides a more student‐centred focus. As Kassop (2003), states “students have the opportunity to explain, share, comment upon, critique, and develop course materials among themselves.”
Discussion Boards can be used as a tool to gauge student understanding and progress. By providing an opportunity for students to write about case studies or reflect on course content, Instructors can identify problems and provide meaningful feedback to address any concerns and monitor student learning.
Tips for effective Discussion Board forums
To optimise the effectiveness of utilising the Discussion Board tool and to achieve learning objectives, it is important that the Instructor facilitates the discussion to ensure that it is a safe place for students to collaborate. Owens (2009), lists eight simple strategies that an Instructor should implement to enhance a students’ online Discussion Board experience: 1. Post the rules of netiquette and behaviour expectations at the start of class. 2. Encourage students to introduce themselves and meet one another to form a learning community where they will feel safe to share and discuss. 3. Develop discussion questions that allow the student to critically reflect on the material and synthesize it with their own experiences. 4. Encourage students to participate early and often. 5. Create their presence in the classroom but not interfere with the flow of the discussion. 6. Intervene when the discussion is veering off in the wrong direction and help move the discussion back on track. 7. Ensure that the discussion forum is a safe learning environment. 8. Promote further thinking and reflection by posing more thoughtful and engaging questions within any given discussion.
Want to know more?
Bishop, M.C. (2008). Five Tips for Respecting Diversity in Asynchronous Discussion Forums. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/asynchronous‐
learning‐and‐trends/five‐tips‐for‐respecting‐diversity‐in‐asynchronous‐discussion‐forums/ Brookfield, S., Peskill, S. (2005). Discussion as A Way of Teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐ Bass.
Cheung, W.S., & Hew, K.F. (2010). Examining facilitator’s habits of mind in an asynchronous online discussion environment: A two case study. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(1), 123‐132. Retrieved from,
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet26/cheung.pdf
Diaz, V., & Strickland, J. (2009). Unit 3: Building community and collaboration. Educause. Retrieved from, http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI80073.pdf
Kassop, M. (2003) Ten ways online education matches, or surpasses, face‐to‐face learning.
The Technology Source Archives. Retrieved from,
http://technologysource.org/article/ten_ways_online_education_matches_or_surpasses_fa cetoface_learning/?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=400&width=800
Kelly, Rob. (Ed.). (2010). Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Tools: 15 Strategies for Engaging Online Students Using Real‐time Chat, Threaded Discussions and Blogs. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from, /courses/m_elearningstaffsupport/Staff Support
Resources/Communicating & collaborating/Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Tools ‐ 15 strategies for engaging online students using real‐time chat, threaded discussions and blogs.pdf
Owens, Rebecca. (2009). Eight Tips for Facilitating Effective Online Discussion Forums.
Faculty Focus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/asynchronous‐ learning‐and‐trends/eight‐tips‐for‐facilitating‐effective‐online‐discussion‐forums/ Sull, Errol. (2011). Creating Effective Responses to Student Discussion Postings. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/asynchronous‐learning‐and‐ trends/creating‐effective‐responses‐to‐student‐discussion‐postings/
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. (2008). Using Discussion Boards in Blackboard to support face‐to‐face or online courses – Discussion Board question creation techniques. Retrieved from,
http://www.usuhs.mil/eti/resource/DB_Creation_Techniques.pdf
Uzuner, S. (2007). Educationally valuable talk: A new concept for determining the quality of online conversations. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3(4), 400–410. Retrieved from, http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no4/uzuner.htm
