UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo Faculty Affairs 1-23-2021 Promoting Discussion and Community in Online Synchronous Courses Nathan M Slife University of Nevada, Las Vegas, nathan.slife@unlv.edu Gillian Bowden University of Nevada, Las Vegas, gillian.bowden@unlv.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo Part of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons Recommended Citation Slife, Nathan M and Bowden, Gillian, "Promoting Discussion and Community in Online Synchronous Courses" (2021) UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo 150 https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/150 This Poster is protected by copyright and/or related rights It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s) You are free to use this Poster in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself This Poster has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV For more information, please contact digitalscholarship@unlv.edu Promoting Discussion and Community in Online Synchronous Courses Best Teaching Practices Expo 2021 Teaching Practice & the Need it Addresses It can be challenging to engage students in class discussion and build community in synchronous, online courses This teaching practice addresses these challenges by scaffolding synchronous in-class discussions with asynchronous discussion posts This practice engenders community and promotes student engagement Implementation Step 1: Create a Weekly Reflection Assignment Handout [See the uploaded example handout] Nathan Slife & Gillian Bowden Educational Psychology and Higher Education How to Adopt This Practice • This practice is easily adaptable for online, synchronous courses that are discussing assigned readings during class • UNLV instructors can utilize the “Discussions” section of WebCampus with breakout rooms in the synchronous teaching platform (e.g., WebEx, Zoom) • The reflection post itself can be larger or shorter to meet the class level and purpose of the discussion • We found it helpful in our undergraduate seminars to ask students to write no more than one paragraph and to include a discussion question for use during class Step 2: Create a WebCampus Discussion Post that invites students to post their Reflection Assignment by the start of class Step 3: Separate students into breakout groups during class for 3-5 minutes Ask students to review the WebCampus reflection posts while in their groups and select their favorite 12 posts to bring back to class How Students Benefit • Step 4: End the breakout groups and invite the first group to share their favorite student post and name the student author Step 5: Engage in a class discussion about the post, ending with comments from the student that wrote the post Step 6: Move on to the next group for discussion of the next student post until all groups have finished • We saw anecdotal evidence in fall 2020 of students taking pride in their reflection posts when they were selected for class discussion This increased student engagement and investment in our class community There is much research evidencing the importance of discussion for learning in college and enhancing oral and written communication skills Resources • • • • WebCampus Help Page for Creating Discussions WebEx Help Documents for Creating Breakout Groups Nathan Slife – nathan.slife@unlv.edu Gillian Bowden – gillian.bowden@unlv.edu References Dallimore, E J., Hertenstein, J H., & Platt, M B (2008) Using discussion pedagogy to enhance oral and written communication skills College Teaching, 56(3), 163172 doi: 10.3200/CTCH.56.3.163-172 Ezzedeen, S R (2008) Facilitating class discussions around current and controversial issues: Ten recommendations for teachers College Teaching, 56(4), 230-236 doi: 10.3200/CTCH.56.4.230-236 Gerlock, J A & McBride, D L (2013) Managing online discussion forums: Building community by avoiding the drama triangle College Teaching, 61(1), 23-29 doi: 10.1080/87567555.2012.713042 Hamann, K., Pollock, P H., & Wilson B M (2012) Assessing student perceptions of the benefits of discussions in smallgroup, large-class, and online learning contexts College Teaching, 60(2), 65-75 doi: 10.1080/87567555.2011.633407 Roehling, P V., Lee Vander Kooi, T., Dykema, S., Quisenberry, B., & Vandlen, C (2010) Engaging the millennial generation in class discussions College Teaching, 59(1), 1-6 doi: 10.1080/87567555.2010.484035 ... class discussion and build community in synchronous, online courses This teaching practice addresses these challenges by scaffolding synchronous in- class discussions with asynchronous discussion. . .Promoting Discussion and Community in Online Synchronous Courses Best Teaching Practices Expo 2021 Teaching Practice & the Need it Addresses It can be challenging to engage students in class... Psychology and Higher Education How to Adopt This Practice • This practice is easily adaptable for online, synchronous courses that are discussing assigned readings during class • UNLV instructors