Unit 3 Collaboration
Objectives:
After completing this unit, students will be able to:
1. Define and explain the following terms: discussion group, discussion thread, and post
2. Define what discourse is, and describe how to effectively use it in a discussion group
Topic Information:
As seen in the Instructional Video, a discussion group is a series of threads, each consisting of a series of posts, that allow students to participate in a large discussion without physically being present together at the same time.
Discussion groups are actually sets of smaller entities collected together into a hierarchically-organized set. Discussion groups contain a bunch of discussion Forums. Each Forum is designed to focus on a particular subject. Often in educational courses, each module or unit has its own discussion form.
Each discussion forum contains discussion threads. A discussion thread is a series of posts related to a specific topic or question. Frequently the first post in the thread asks a leading question or introduces the general topic to be discussed, and then each successive post is a response to what is happening in the thread.
Discussion thread posts are replies to previous posts in the thread. Such replies can be responses to the original thread post, or replies to other people's replies.
Nine Events of Instruction:
The late Dr Robert Gagne, a pioneer in instructional system design, identified nine events in the process of instruction [1]. To build a deep understanding of the instructional concepts, discussion groups should try to entail as many of these as possible:
1. Gaining attention
2. Informing the students of the objectives
3. Stimulating recall of previously learned capabilities
4. Presenting material that stimulates learning
5. Proving guidance
6. Eliciting performance
7. Providing frequent feedback
8. Assessing performance
9. Enhancing retention and knowledge transfer
Conversational discourse:
Without proper guidance and preparation, discussion groups can devolve into the type of communication prevalent on social networking sites like Facebook, where one person posts something and then everyone else just agrees to it or likes it. Discussion groups contribute to collaborative learning through a process called "conversational discourse." Conversational discourse is the process of expanding one's understanding or view of a certain subject by contemplating other, often disparate, viewpoints. Thus, the fundamental intent of conversational discourse is to NOT have a discussion thread where everyone agrees or likes what was previously said.
Fundamentally, conversational discourse begins with someone answering a question or stating their idea of how to address a situation. Someone else will provide a counter-proposal, or expand on the original suggestion. Each successive post continues the discourse, allowing everyone involved in the discussion a chance to see differing viewpoints and aspects of the situation that they had not considered. In this way, the participants in the discourse are exposed to a broader range of ideas, and thus provides for a deeper understanding and application of the concept.
For conversational discourse to be effective, participants must have the sense of freedom to say whatever they believe, even if it is not aligned with the prevalent opinions. Than means discussion threads must be cleared of "flames", or attacks on a person's character or background that has little or nothing to do with the subject of the discussion thread. Also, arguments and disagreements must be resolved quickly and completely, restoring a sense of a "safe place" within the discussion thread.
Thus, participants of a discussion group that will be using conversational discourse should be previously trained in conflict resolution (see Unit 2). Also, the instructor or overseer of the discussion should monitor the activity frequently (AT LEAST once a day), in order to catch negative threads before it affects the entire discussion.
Scaffolding tags:
One method frequently used to facilitate discourse and encourage deeper cognitive understanding is the use of scaffolding tags in discussion posts. These rags precede a person's text, and it allows the reader to know how this post, or the content following the tag (as some people use more than one scaffolding tag in a single discussion post), relates to the discussion.
Course instructors frequently define their own tags, but common ones that encourage friendly discourse and encourage deeper understanding are:
- Expanding on This
- I See it Differently
- In My Experience
- I Have Seen This Done
- An Alternative Might Be
Note how each of these denote a person's opinion or personal experience, which reinforces that there is always another way to view the problem or situation.
It is important for scaffolding tags to stand out in the body of the discussion post, so it is usually encouraged that these tags are surrounded by some symbol that would not be used in standard text writing. Thus, parentheses () and dashes - - are not encouraged. Frequent choices for tag symbols are comparators (< >), square brackets ([ ]), curly brackets ({ }), or tildes (~ ~). Note that the symbol both precedes the scaffolding text and follows it. Thus, a scaffolding tag where I am relating how I have seen a solution implemented in community use might be
~I Have Seen This Done~
It is often advised that scaffolding tags appear on the line above the text to which the tag relates, but it can also simply start the first line of that text.
Reference Material:
[1] Gagne, Robert M., Walter W. Wager, Katharine C. Golas, John M. Kellar; Principles of Instructional Design, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning (2005, 5th ed)
Support Material:
Scaffolding results
Practice Exercise:
Click on the link below to open a small discussion group. Select the "New Directions in Classroom Technology" thread and post a reply to it. Use appropriate discourse scaffolding tabs.
Discussion:
Post in the Discussion tab what scaffolding tags you suggest for your students to encourage conversational discourse. State why you chose those tags.