Facilitating online discussions effectively

This article presents a synthesis of the theoretical and research literature on facilitating asynchronous online discussions effectively. Online courses need to be designed so that they provide motivation for students to engage in productive discussions and clearly describe what is expected, perhaps in the form of a discussion rubric. Additionally, instructors need to provide discussion forums for socio-emotional discussions that have the goal of nurturing a strong sense of community within the course as well as group discussion forums for content-and task-oriented discussions that center on authentic topics. In order to facilitate discussions effectively, instructors should generate a social presence in the virtual classroom, avoid becoming the center of all discussions by emphasizing student–student interactions, and attend to issues of social equity arising from use of different communication patterns by culturally diverse students [e.g., Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., and Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. The American Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 7–23; Rovai, A. P. (2003). Strategies for grading online discussions: Effects on discussions and classroom community in Internet-based university courses. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 15(1), 89–107].     

Taking critical thinking,creativity and grit online

Technology has the potential to facilitate the development of higher-order thinking skills in learning. There has been a rush towards online learning by education systems during COVID-19; this can therefore be seen as an opportunity to develop students’ higher-order thinking skills. In this short report we show how critical thinking and creativity can be developed in an online context, as well as highlighting the importance of grit. We also suggest the importance of heuristic evaluation in the design of online systems to support twenty-first century learning.

     

在物理教学中培养学生的批判性思维

批判性是思维的重要品质之一 ,批判性思维的过程是创造性的思维过程。批判性思维有助于学生创造精神的培养。引导和渗透是培养学生批判性思维的主要渠道。“问题探究式”教学、教会学生质疑、重视错例分析、探讨原始问题等都是培养批判性思维的可行途径。     

Student-facilitators' roles in moderating online discussions

Intellectual, social, managerial and technical are four commonly reported categories of facilitation in online discussions. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether these four broad categories of facilitation were equally applied in online discussions and which specific skills were perceived to be more important. In this study, students were facilitators of online discussions. Each student-facilitator led a group discussion and participated in two additional discussions moderated by other student-facilitators. Three groups of students were selected for data collection. Results indicated that the intellectual, social and managerial categories of facilitation were highly applied, while technical facilitation was less used in the online discussions. Also, summarising discussions was perceived to be the top facilitation skill. This paper presents findings of the study and discusses issues involved in the study.     

英语议论文写作教学中学生批判性思维能力的培养

目前学生的写作能力不是很理想。原因是教师在教学中过多的注重语法,阅读等能力的培养,而忽略了学生思维能力的提升。写作作为思维输出能力的重要体现。议论文作为重要的写作题材之一,教师可以从选材,同伴互评,教师评价,反馈日记等多样形式来培养学生的批判性思维能力。     

Beyond critical thinking skills: Investigating the relationship between critical thinking skills and dispositions through different online instructional strategies

The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship between critical thinking skills (CTS) and critical thinking dispositions (CTD), and (2) the effectiveness of different levels of instructional strategy (asynchronous online discussions (AODs), CTS instruction via AODs, and CTS instruction with CTD cultivation via AODs) in improving students' CTS and CTD. A pretest and posttest quasi-experimental design was employed to achieve this purpose. The participants in this study were 220 students enrolled in a general education course at a large university in Taiwan. The findings of this study were as follows: (1) the overall relationship between CTS and CTD was positive. However, further analysis of the relationship between the different levels of CTS and CTD showed that only the students with high CTS and medium CTD showed a significant correlation; (2) the enhancement in CTS reinforced CTD, but the improvement in CTD did not increase the level of CTS. In addition, it is recommended that to improve the CTS and CTD of all students (including the students with a high level of CTS), the instructional strategy, CTS instruction with CTD cultivation, be employed.     

英语专业学生批判性阅读思维能力培养探究

批判性思维的是创新能力培养的核心。相关理论的学习和研究,创设良好的课堂气氛和教育环境,设计合理的课堂教学模式,让学生形成积极思维的习惯并且进行广泛的阅读。     

Reconceptualising moderation in asynchronous online discussions using grounded theory

This article reports a grounded theory study of the moderation of asynchronous online discussions, to explore the processes by which tutors in higher education decide when and how to moderate. It aims to construct a theory of e‐moderation based on some key factors which appear to influence e‐moderation. It discusses previous research on the definition and practice of e‐moderation, and then describes the study, which involved four e‐moderators working in two different university contexts. Key themes on e‐moderation, which emerged using a grounded theory approach, are discussed. It proposes a framework for e‐moderation and suggests that as a facilitative activity, it should be sufficiently contained within a ring‐fenced learning arena. Factors outside and inside the ring‐fence that appear to influence e‐moderation and their implications for future theory development and validation are discussed.     

Possible factors influencing Asian students' degree of participation in peer-facilitated online discussion forums: a case study

This study investigated possible factors that might influence the degree of student participation in asynchronous online discussion forums. Degree of participation refers to the number of messages posted by the students. Data were collected from 41 forums, students' reflection logs, and students' interviews. Of these 41 forums, the top third forums (n = 14) in terms of the highest frequency of participant postings were identified. Fourteen less frequent forums were randomly chosen from the remaining forums. We also assessed the quality of the discussions found in both the more frequent and less frequent groups by examining the levels of knowledge construction exhibited in the online postings. We found that that the quality of contributions in the more frequent group was greater than those found in the less frequent group in terms of higher knowledge construction levels. Quantitative analyses showed that the duration of the discussion could not account for the difference between the two groups. Instead, the more and less frequent forums differed in terms of group size, as well as the frequency of two habits of mind displayed by the student facilitators: (a) is aware of own thinking, and (b) is accurate and seeks accuracy. Qualitative analyses of the reflection logs and interviews suggested several other important factors that could also influence students' decision to participate: (a) familiarity with the facilitator, (b) mutual obligation to help each other, (c) knowledge about the topic, and (d) availability of time. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Cultivation of students' mathematical thinking

思维能力对学生智力的发展非常重要,发展和培养学生的思维能力是改革当前小学数学教学的一个重要课题.几年来,我在自己的数学教学工作中,对如何启发学生思考,发展学生的思维,做了不少工作,有一些体会.     

Rubrics for designing and evaluating online asynchronous discussions

The purpose of the study reported on in this paper was to identify performance criteria and ratings in rubrics designed for the evaluation of learning in online asynchronous discussions (OADs) in post-secondary contexts. We analysed rubrics collected from Internet sources. Using purposive sampling, we reached saturation with the selection of 50 rubrics. Using keyword analysis and subsequent grouping of keywords into categories, we identified 153 performance criteria in 19 categories and 831 ratings in 40 categories. We subsequently identified four core categories as follows: cognitive (44.0%), mechanical (19.0%), procedural/managerial (18.29%) and interactive (17.17%). Another 1.52% of ratings and performance criteria were labelled vague and not assigned to any core category.     

Empirical manifestations of power among adult learners in online discussions

This study examined the nature of power manifestations in a specific online learning setting. The two online classes selected for this study were Master’s level courses in a professional school at a large state university in the United States. A total of 1340 postings were made in the two classes over the span of the semester. To test the research question, frequency analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test were conducted, using gender and race as the independent variables. The results of the study suggest the possibility that the online discussion environment attenuates the power of gender-based privilege and perhaps undercuts race privilege, even though there was an element of inequality based on power between the racial groups in an indication of power manifestations.     

Identifying patterns of collaborative knowledge exploration in online asynchronous discussions

This study investigated 6 weeks of online asynchronous discussions in a graduate-level course involving eleven students. The research purposes of this study were to identify patterns of collaborative knowledge exploration (CKE) and to suggest new analytical dimensions for investigating online discussions. Based upon a unique theoretical framework integrating the concepts of transition community and discourse community, three major dimensions of online asynchronous learning were adopted in the analysis. The first dimension focuses on the various forms of social negotiation in the discourse. The second dimension regards references to various learning resources, while the third is related to the coherence of the resources utilized. Based upon these dimensions and the analysis of the participating students’ online asynchronous discussions, this study suggested ten different patterns of CKE representing the cognitive processes of Elaborating, Challenging, Correcting, and Debating. We argue that the proposed analytical framework allows us to interpret the sociocultural and cognitive aspects of students’ interactions for online problem-based learning. In addition, the results suggest that the more cognitively demanding the pattern is, the less frequently it occurs. Potential factors contributing to the observed findings are discussed in this study.     

Facilitating active social presence and meaningful interactions in online learning

Online learning has minimized many barriers and constraints that are common in traditional learning environments. However, due to the absence of face-to-face contacts, students and instructors are usually faced with the lack of active social presence and meaningful interactions in online learning. This article explores a review of the literature on social presence and various types of interactions in online learning environments in the context of a class project. The findings suggest need for online instructors to explore effective ways to design and facilitate active social presence and meaningful interactions in online learning.     

在半开放生物实验中培养学生的创造性思维

快速发展的社会需要具有独立思考和创新能力的人才,而创新人才的培养又是高校人才培养的重要目标之一,因此,如何培养学生的创造性思维成为了教学研究中的热点问题。以"叶绿体色素的分离和吸收光谱曲线"实验为例,采用半开放性的实验教学法,阐述了如何在生物实验教学中培养学生的创造性思维。