Breaking the Boards: How Guided Peer-to-Peer Discussions Replace Traditional Discussion Boards in an Online Course

This presentation provides a case study of instructional strategies for promoting engagement and student motivation for 350 sophomore level biology students in an online learning environment. Presented by an instructor of biology at a large research university in the US, the session will focus on their decision to use online peer learning software as a replacement for traditional student discussion boards. Leveraging purpose-built peer-to-peer learning software provides students with an opportunity to engage in multiple deeper intimate conversations and receive specific feedback from their peers as opposed to traditional discussion boards that typically provide more surface-level interaction. Research shows discussion forums can be an engaging or disengaging factor in online courses, depending on the structure of assessment and level of participation from and with peers. Utilizing an online peer-to-peer learning platform, the instructor facilitates double-blind, guided discussions that promote deep one-to-one student interactions.This case study can be replicated to address the common challenge of student disengagement and provide a pathway for increasing student engagement, motivation, and interaction, especially in online or blended learning environments.

This is an asynchronous online course - assignments may include readings, videos, discussions, quizzes, group work, projects, case studies, and exams. The format is designed to foster critical thinking skills and allow for long-term learning. Multi-faceted assignments are designed to help foster students’ understanding of the material and to help them bridge the gaps between what they are learning online and the actual application of the material in the real world and individually. The course is designed to expose students to a comprehensive view of human biology based on key biological principles, concepts, and competencies. Each semester students are asked to complete several anonymously-submitted peer-to-peer learning assignments that guide them through a sequence of anonymous interactions with their classmates. These activities are designed so that students participate in meaningful conversations about challenging course content. These assignments utilize higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, such as creating and evaluating where students are given information and/or a problem and are asked to design, investigate, critique or argue. After the submission period, they will have the opportunity to read and respond to 3 of their classmates' posts using guided prompts that promote more thought-provoking responses. Following the response period, students have the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback on the quality of the responses that they received. These micro interactions help to focus students on the topic in a deeper exchange as they follow guided prompts throughout the process, and the feedback to the responses provides students with helpful suggestions for improving future responses.

The session will include a live interactive component to demonstrate the value of guided peer-to-peer discussion as opposed to generic course discussion boards. The simulation will ask participants to participate in a live discussion about a topic of interest in two opposing modalities. The first will follow a typical discussion board format. Attendees will be asked to share a few sentences about the topic based on a prompt. Each attendee will be required to respond to the prompt without repeating something that another attendee has shared. Attendees will then be asked to respond to one of the comments they heard. This is a common practice for discussion boards and will provide the control experience. 

In the second phase of the simulation, participants will follow the specific method used in the sophomore level biology course that is being highlighted in this presentation. That process will break participants into small groups where they will be given specific prompts to start the discussion as well as specific prompts for responding to one another’s comments. The presenters will facilitate this discussion just as the online peer-to-peer learning tool process is structured. Once both modalities of discussion have been explored, participants will be offered time to reflect on their experiences of the two different processes. 

Following the presentation attendees should better understand:

1. The value of guided peer-to-peer discussions to promote engagement and motivation in online learning environments.

2. How to encourage and facilitate discussions that build a sense of belonging using online platforms.

3. The benefits of guided reflective conversations for deepening understanding of and engagement  with course content.

4. The importance of feedback in improving learning outcomes.

5. The potential challenges of implementing peer-to-peer discussions and how to overcome them.