I’ve been asking readers if they have found ways around these challenges. This week I’ll focus on two alternatives to the traditional discussion board.
Nathan Johnson, an assistant professor of religion at the University of Indianapolis, wrote in to say that he has moved away from discussion boards in his classes this semester. “In addition to issues of AI usage, I sense that students are tired of this format since the pandemic. Also, since excellent discussion posts tended to be longer, they saw less student traffic than the short, frequently inaccurate or simplified posts. Peer responses were also an issue. Despite specific instructions not to reply to peers with only complimentary remarks, most posts were merely encouraging rather than substantive (“Great post, Tina! I liked when you wrote X”).
“I have since migrated to a model that uses many of the same discussion prompts, but has students turn in their responses as a Reading Log. As a Google Doc, the submissions can be checked for version history and AI concerns. I miss that students aren’t interacting with one another’s material, but their material has been less perfunctory and more critical.”
I asked Johnson if he has changed the questions he asks students, and he said he has, but only slightly, and they remain open ended. I also asked if he has noticed whether students write differently for him than for their peers, and he said no.
“In the past, I thought that the performative element of writing for their peers would drive more careful articulation of their views in discussion posts. However, lately I think that performative aspect is precisely what leads many to use generative AI, especially for those who are less confident in their written English, unfortunately.”
Johnson said he hopes he can catch AI usage by looking at the version history in Google docs and by using Turnitin’s AI-detection software.
Drew Stephen, an associate professor of musicology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, also wrote in to say that he’s not a big fan of discussion boards. While he uses them in his 100-person asynchronous online Music and Film course, he also recently added something new.
For two discussion topics, he assigns students to teams and has them meet on Zoom. “Each team has to follow a specific format: The discussion starts with each individual giving a short statement that summarizes his or her response to the topic, the group engages in a discussion that expands on the ideas, and the meeting ends with the team working collaboratively to craft a statement that reflects the team’s overall response to the topic. The discussion is recorded using the gallery view in Zoom and uploaded to Panopto. The link to the video is submitted as the group’s assignment attempt.”
He noted that he finds the assignment easy to grade since it’s “about process, not product.” To that end he focuses on the opening statements and the summary statement at the end. “It is an asynchronous class, so it is really nice to see the students engage in the material in person. The students seemed to enjoy the activity. Many of them comment in the video (not to me, but to each other) how much they enjoyed the process, and the meetings lasted much longer than the recommended time of 15 minutes.”
He added that the assignment also helps students prepare for the final group project, a video presentation on a film composer from an underrepresented group. And student participation is relatively high, compared to discussion assignments in a more traditional format of discussion boards.
I’ll be continuing to write about how instructors are trying to improve how discussion boards are used, or to create alternatives that foster more authentic discussion. If you’d like to share your approach, write to me at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com
A reading riddle
I have been hearing from instructors about the problem of reading. In short, students are not doing it. While this has been a challenge going back decades, some faculty members feel like we’ve hit a crisis point. One professor told me that if she tries to base a class discussion around that week’s readings, it will be a disaster, since so many will not have done the work. Instead she does the reading in class with her students.
Other faculty members have said their students have difficulty understanding and interpreting what they read. And their tolerance for difficult readings has declined. They may literally stop reading something because they don’t get what the author is saying. Or maybe they are asked to describe the main themes of a reading and latch onto something they see in the first couple of paragraphs. They have trouble rephrasing arguments, synthesizing lecture notes, and contrasting and categorizing what they read.
All of this makes me wonder what is happening with the development of students’ reading skills. Are lighter workloads in high school during the pandemic to blame? Is the problem rooted in remote learning, when students couldn’t engage as effectively with each other or their teachers? Is digital distraction the culprit? Or is it a more fundamental issue around how K-12 education is structured, with changes to how reading is taught and an increased emphasis on teaching to the test?
I have heard all of these arguments. Now I want to hear your stories. I’d like to dig into this reading challenge by getting granular. Tell me what your students are like, how they approach reading. What are their attitudes and skills when it comes to the ability to understand and explain what they read? You can write to me at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com or fill out this Google form.
ICYMI
- Can you change the teaching culture at a university? Beckie dives into that question in her latest story.
- In his latest Chronicle Advice piece, James Lang offers four guiding principles when thinking about generative AI in teaching.
- How can administrators help address the student disengagement crisis? David Perlmutter examines that question in this Chronicle advice essay.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com or beckie.supiano@chronicle.com
–Beth
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