When designing a discussion board activity, it isimportant to remember that discussions are not exams andthe correctness of each person’s response is not the point.The point of discussion should be conversation, analysis,debate, illustration, application, synthesis, and reflection.
Point of a discussion board - not exam or even correct answer but conversation analysis debate illustration application synthesis reflection
“line up and answer” model is an instructor-centered mode
Instructor centered question model
At least partially at fault is ineffectivequestion design. One of the most common question formatsfor online asynchronous discussions is for instructors to posea question or brief list of questions, and then to ask studentsto first reply to the question(s) provided and then to returnlater to reply to the responses of two peers.
issue with standard - question and reply to 2 people discussion boards - not really active learning
se clear, open-ended questions that tap into the higher-order thinking levelsof application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to start conversation threads.
open-ended questions application analysis synthesis evaluation
Now, I ask questions that I am really interested in discussing. My questions are always open-ended; I make sure to provide five or six questions so that students can choose the ones they want to respond to, and I always include a general question that prompts students to react to an aspect of the readings that caught their attention.
types of questions