Threaded discussions are an effective way to engage learners in written conversation. The twist: the instructor required learners to create and monitor the discussions. The result: Great, topical and enthusiastic discussions.
How can we encourage students to engage with the material? Active learning activities that taps into the affective domain are much more successful. Cognitive science also tells us that the first step to engagement is gaining students’ attention. What better way to engage attention is there than to promote learner to learner interaction? Threaded discussions become a living breathing, exciting tool in the hands of learners!
The goals of this session are to guide participants to reflect on engagement activities in their online environments and to consider the role written threaded discussions can play. During that reflection, the presenter will ask participants to work together in small groups to consider and develop ways their learners can design discussion assignments. Participants will work together to draft instructions they can give to their learners to guide their learners’ development of threaded discussions and a basic rubric for assessment depending on their learning outcomes. The presenter will discuss the results of the learner—created and directed discussions and the learning impact.
This assignments build on standard learning theories and the research in cognitive science. Under the constructivist educational philosophy, knowledge does not exist independently of the learner. Instead, people bring their own knowledge, skills, and background to bear when they solve problems. New experiences add to and may cause learners to confirm, revise or discard previous knowledge. In order to successfully solve problems one must deconstruct what has been learned (i.e. break it down into its various components) and then reconstruct it to incorporate the new knowledge. Students learn through actively creating knowledge through experimentation, exploration, manipulation and testing. This constructivist educational philosophy proposes that much learning is learner-centered and contextual.
Research in neuroscience confirms a portion of that theory. Learning changes the physical structure of the brain. Creating lasting learning requires that learners are exposed to more than just facts and that they are exposed to developing the interrelationships among that facts and other information.[ii] Learners learn best under constructivism when the instructor reviews the learner’s newly constructed understanding to be sure it is accurate.[iii]
Active learning encourages learners to take control of their learning.[iv] In this assignment, students are creating discussions for their peers based on the knowledge they acquire from reading the textbook and other relevant resources. In this session, participants will examine one of their courses and develop strategies to use online discussion board assignments to encourage students to take control of their learning.
Participants will use online collaboration tools, including tools such as Padlet and Google Docs and audience participation tools such as Kahoot to keep actively engaged. Participants will also receive slides. At the end of the session, attendees will have a rough draft of an assignment and learner instructions.
[ii] Bransford, John D. et. al, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School, 2000. P. 9
[iii] Bransford, John D. et. al, P. 11
[iv] Bransford, John D. et. al, . P. 12