As usual, our readers were full of suggestions. Kathryn Schild, the lead instructional designer in faculty development and instructional support at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, shared a guide she’s compiled on holding asynchronous discussions, which includes a section on difficult topics.
In an email, Schild also pulled out a few ideas she thought were particularly relevant to Le’s question, including:
- Set the ground rules as a class. One way to do this is to share your draft rules in a collaborative document and ask students to annotate it and add suggestions.
- Plan to hold fewer difficult discussions than in a face-to-face class, and work on quality over quantity. This could include multiweek discussions, where you spiral through the same issue with fresh perspectives as the class learns new approaches.
- Start with relationship-building interactions in the first few weeks, such as introductions, low-stakes group assignments, or peer feedback, etc.
I also heard from John Mercurio, a lecturer in political science at San Diego State University and an adjunct instructor at San Diego City College, who pointed out that in his discipline, “our discussions are about some very controversial things.”
Mercurio shared the syllabus statement he uses in his online courses:
“In this class, each student should feel free to express their own opinions and ideas in a respectful, academic fashion. Students should be open to listen to and appreciate differences in opinion, life experiences, worldviews, values, and beliefs. Our class is a hate-free zone. Please be mindful of how you communicate your values, beliefs, opinions, and other ideas. While we often disagree with other people, nobody has the right to intentionally hurt others with words or to discriminate against them. You are NOT here to promote your individual political opinions over others. We are all here to further our understanding of global politics. Words matter, especially in an online environment where things like sarcasm do not always come across as such. So, please, take a minute to think about what you want to say in a discussion before hitting the Submit button (this is a good life-rule, too).”
In 15 years of teaching online, Mercurio added, “I have had maybe a handful of ‘bad’ incidents in my online discussions, and all of those were dealt with easily by sending an email reiterating the above statement to the ‘offender.’”
Finally, I spoke with Diane Brewer, a professor of theater history and criticism at the University of Evansville. Brewer’s classes meet in person, but her students use the social-annotation tool Perusall to work together, asynchronously and online, outside of class. In Brewer’s experience, Perusall is a helpful way to corral class discussion because students respond to something specific in the text. It fits into a broader effort in her courses to help students read closely, and remember the humanity of the writer, whether that’s a scholar or a classmate.
Group project
My latest story explores how — and why — professors can help students form meaningful connections with their classmates. It’s got examples from large and small courses in a variety of disciplines and institutions. You can read it here.
While the story is not about group work per se, that is obviously one common approach for helping students connect, especially in a larger course. Two of the instructors I spoke with, Lori Kayes and Devon Quick, both of whom teach large-enrollment biology courses at Oregon State University, put students into assigned groups, though their approaches vary a bit. (Kayes randomly assigns groups and keeps the same ones in place for the full term; Quick sets some parameters so that, for instance, there won’t be a lone woman or person of color in a group, and changes groups partway through.)
Another professor who talked to me, Francisco Gallegos, has students meet in standing groups outside of his philosophy classes at Wake Forest University. He forms the groups after speaking with students and getting a sense of whether, for instance, a particular one wants to be challenged or comfortable in a group.
Those two examples are pretty different in terms of enrollment and discipline but also in the purposes of the groups. It made me wonder if there might be a different story for me to write on how professors construct and use groups. I know there’s been some relevant research done, both in educational and workplace settings. Have you studied group work — and the outcomes of different ways of forming groups — in higher ed? Are you familiar with other research I should check out? Do you have an effective approach to forming and using student groups in your courses that you’d like to share? Or one that did not work but that you have learned from (and that readers might, too)? I’d love to hear about it: beckie.supiano@chronicle.com
On the road
If you’re going to the POD network’s annual conference in Pittsburgh next week, keep an eye out for Beth, who’ll be attending sessions and talking with conference-goers. Tell her about your teaching wins and challenges, let her know what you’d like to see more of in our coverage, or simply say hello! If you want to plan a meet-up, write to her at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com
How are your students using ChatGPT?
What has your fall semester been like now that ChatGPT and other generative AI tools are ubiquitous? Are students using them responsibly? Are you seeing cheating with AI on the rise? Have you redesigned your assignments and assessments to either promote or mitigate AI use? Are you talking with colleagues about the issues it raises for teaching and learning?
Whether you love these new tools, hate them, or fall somewhere in between, we want to hear from you. Please fill out this Google form and, with your permission, your experiences may appear in a story we plan to run later this fall.
We’re grateful to those of you who have already shared your experiences and observations!
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
As always, nonsubscribers who register for a free Chronicle account can read two articles a month. Your readership supports our journalism.
-Beckie
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