For Faculty

Student-Centered Discussions in Online Courses

By Lisa Leach, Director, Instructional Design and Curriculum Development

Most students want a balance between student-centered and instructor-led activities. They want to see that the instructor contributes something unique, something they can't "get from the book." While text readings may be important and appropriate for your course goals, balancing those with more student-centered strategies can make the learning experience more engaging and relevant to students. Discussion boards are a key student-centered strategy in online courses.

The following are some tips for creating quality discussion forums:

• Control the threads. The instructor should start all major thread topics in a forum. You can allow students to create additional threads if you choose but consider this option carefully. Students tend to create new threads without real necessity, as they don't yet understand the critical course concepts upon which threads should focus. In addition, threads created by students can lead to duplicated topics and overwhelm the flow.
• Narrow down topics. A good discussion needs shaping and pruning. For example, a query such as "The French Revolution: What do you think of it?" would likely result in a very fragmented discussion. Divide broad topics into logical subtopics to focus the discussion flow.
• Organize forums and threads to reflect the class chronology or topical sequence. Aligning discussion sequences with the course sequence helps students relate the discussion more readily to recent learning. This will help keep discussions from getting off track.
• Address students by name and encourage students to identify topics and clarify responses. Instructor presence is an essential element in an online discussion. Addressing students by name whenever possible increases that student's engagement in the course.
• Establish a pattern of frequent response. You do not have to respond to every student's post, but make sure to respond frequently and to spread your responses out among your students.
• Facilitate and build on participation. Provide comments that address a whole train of thought, encouraging students to continue responding to one another. Ask clarifying questions or probing questions that push them deeper in their thinking.
• Prepare a strategy for potentially controversial discussions. In discussions of this type, it is important to have a strategy for monitoring and guiding the discussions. These tend to be some of the very best discussions, but only if they can be kept in an objective and non-judgmental frame.
• Address problems at the individual level. If a student is responding inappropriately, message the student privately and make your expectations very clear.

For more information about the discussion forums or any other course design issues, please contact the Instructional Design team at elearning.id@ttu.edu.

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References and Resources

ABCs of High Quality Online Discussion: eLearning Industry
Designing Quality Online Discussions: OER Commons
Best Practices in Managing Online Discussions: University of Rhode Island