Start by asking, "What do you want your students to be able to do when they leave your class?"

You've determined that you want to use discussions in your course. Great. Next, try planning your discussions backwards. Consider the question above, and specifically think about how your discussions will help with this. Start by identifying your desired results and determining what kinds of evidence you'd like to capture.

For example, what you want your students to be able to do when they leave your class will likely be addressed in your final assessments at the end of the quarter. But what does the assessment look like two weeks before that? Four weeks before? These can be purposeful discussions that you create so students have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning as they work up to the final assessments. Remember to help guide student communication in discussions by providing them with resources and instruction on good netiquette.

Before you start creating discussions, think about why you're going to use that discussion. Since you will be reading (and possibly grading) the discussion, save your time by creating mindful and purposeful discussions. Discussions are a good assessment tool for measuring student understanding of a reading or video. To make them more manageable to assess, try putting students in small discussion groups. Discussions are also a good way to assess student application of course content to related current events. For example, students studying economics, nursing, and political science could all read about/view news reports showing pharmaceutical executives at a Senate hearing and engage in a discussion about related course content.

Writing Good Discussions Tips

A good discussion is conducive to learning, meaning it asks students to draw from course content and engage each other in meaningful dialogue. However, a key challenge in creating good discussions is writing good questions. It can be tricky, so here are some resources to help.

Use Discussions to Connect Students to Course Material, to Each Other, and to You

Build a sense of community by creating opportunities for students to get to know each other and work together. One thing many instructors do is require students to introduce themselves to each other in a discussion during the first week of class. But it helps students if you give them some questions to respond to, both related to the course and about themselves. You might ask them something specific about your course, such as a Biology instructor asking why they decided to take an environmental science class, or a ViComm instructor asking them about their past experience using Photoshop.

A common pattern for discussions requires students to post once, then reply to two other posts. However, there are many more sophisticated ways to use discussions.

See Nathan Bierma's presentation for a great set of ideas. Be a Hero - Think outside the threaded discussion.
Also check out his blog: Portable Pedagogy.

Consider using group discussions in Canvas to make them more manageable to read and grade, and to foster interaction and communication among students. The Canvas Guides provide information on discussions, including group discussions, so you can research this more before implementing. More information on group discussions will also be provided later in this module. Also see the Groups module in the Canvas Orientation.

Discussions Allow you to Provide Regular and Substantive Feedback to Improve Student Learning

Discussions are a great way to "check in" with students about their learning. In order to make discussions meaningful for students, feedback should be timely and substantive. It's a good idea to respond to every student's/group's posts in the early part of the quarter, and then later in the quarter, you can do more spot-checking to guide conversations toward deeper understanding of the course content.

In the rest of this module, you will learn the "how to" steps to create discussions. The most important thing is to choose the best assessment method for the outcome you want students to achieve, so be sure to also review the Advanced Canvas Orientation modules on Assignments and Quizzes before creating your assessments.

For more information

Available in the Highline College Library

Discussions and Online Learning

Assessing the online learner: Resources and strategies for faculty. Call number: LTC 378.17344678 P168a 2009

Continuing to engage the online learner: More activities and resources for creative instruction. Call number: LTC 371.334 C754c 2012

The excellent online Instructor: Strategies for professional development. Call number: LTC 371.334 P168e 2011

Lessons from the virtual classroom: The realities of online teaching. Call number: LTC 371.3344678 P168L 2013

Making the move to eLearning: Putting your course online. Call number: LTC 371.3344678 L523m 2009

Group Work

Designing groupwork: Strategies for the heterogeneous classroom. Call number: LTC 371.39 C678d 2014

Facilitating group learning: Strategies for success with diverse adult learners. Call number: LTC 374 L192f 2010