Course Discussions

While every course is different, the eLearning Department encourages an online discussion activity for each week or module.

The most common way to achieve interactivity in online courses is through the use of discussions. Discussions often become the heart of an online course, as they allow for reflection time and critical thinking, often resulting in more student involvement than in a face-to-face classroom discussion. Even introverted students who rarely speak up in a traditional face-to-face class often lead exciting and thought-provoking discussions online. Thus, it is very important to include discussions in an online course to give students the opportunity to get involved in these thought-provoking conversations.

Here are some tips for crafting robust discussion prompts:

Prompts should evoke a response from students. “Summarize the reading…” or prompts that ask close-ended questions do not promote interaction among students or encourage thoughtful responses.
Be clear about what students should discuss. Prompts such as “Read and reflect…” are vague and students might not understand what is expected of them.
Encourage students to share their thought processes as part of their posts.
Encourage students to pose questions related to the prompt to invite more discussion!
Ask students to incorporate evidence from the weekly resources (and outside sources) into their posts.
Make the discussion relevant to the students. Ask students to pick a point from the text and provide an example from their own experience to support their answer or make their argument.
Prompts that include audio or video resources stimulate students’ interest. For example, students in a political science or history course could watch a clip of a famous speech and respond to it.
Consider including discussions that provide a space for students to help one another find solutions.
Consider adding role-play scenarios to get students to apply their learning!
Guide students’ responses – how should they interact with each other? What should they add to the conversation?

For more great ideas, please explore the following brief article:

Eduflow: How to Write Discussion Questions that Actually Spark Discussions

Discussion Examples

Here are some examples of engaging discussions:

Discussion – Panama Election Results Case Study

Projects come in all sizes.

Large, complex projects can be overwhelming and the ability to break down the details into manageable work packages is a critical skill for a Project Manager.

Review the case study Project Management in Practice: Election Returns within Three Hours found in Chapter 8 of Project Management: A Managerial Approach by Jack R. Meredith; Samuel J. Mantel Jr.

If you were the project manager assigned to build the schedule for the project, how would you begin?
How would you organize your WBS for the project?
How would you break down the tasks?
Why would you choose your approach?

In your reply posts, consider the following questions:

Do you agree with the approaches your colleagues chose?
What questions might you have about the other approaches if you were to apply their approach to a project of your own?

In this discussion, please identify one kind of story that social media is good for telling (Note – it may seem like a stretch to call it a story; we may be down to narrative shreds or fragments). Using a specific example or examples, explain how and why that type of story works for social media. Then, identify another kind of story that social media is ill-equipped to relay. Use a specific example or examples to explain how and why that type of story doesn’t work for social media.

In your replies to at least two of your colleagues, explain why you agree or disagree with your colleagues’ assessments. Find other examples that support or possibly conflict with their assessments.

Discussion – The Fibonacci Sequence

The Fibonacci sequence is probably the most well-known mathematical sequence, and also the most prevalent. For this week’s discussion, find a situation where the Fibonacci sequence models reality and describe it the best you can. Describe why the example you chose is important in your life. If applicable, include an image in your post.

In your follow-up posts, aside from any comments that you might find relevant, add pictures that further illustrate situations presented by your colleagues. And keep in mind that Mathematics is all about modeling reality!

Promoting Higher-Level Thinking in Discussions

Now that you have a sense of the role discussions play in our courses and ways to develop engaging discussion prompts, watch this brief video that reinforces the use of open-ended and alternative questions in discussions to promote higher-level thinking and engagement: