by Leslie Bowman, M.S.Ed.
George París Conway, M.S.Ed.
Educator, Instructional Designer and Consultant
August 2002 Article Part 2
This is Part 2 of our SALT conference paper and presentation.
Tips For Facilitating Online Discussions
Online discussions, just as discussions in traditional classrooms, often take on a life of their own. Instructors must maintain the flexibility to "go with the flow" as long as the new direction is relevant to the topic or course objectives. This allows students to take control of their own learning because they will talk about what interests them in relation to the lesson content. An added bonus is that they will often go a direction that would never have occurred to the instructor. This happens because students assimilate the new information, append it to their prior knowledge and make it relevant by applying the "constructed" knowledge to their own life experience. By sharing individual knowledge and experience, new knowledge is constructed as students learn from each other. Effective instructors understand that this can occur in any class where diverse people are allowed to explore issues.
Facilitation skills become extremely important as discussions evolve in the OLE. Facilitation does not actually begin with the discussion however; it begins with framing the discussion questions.
Framing questions for online discussions
Interactive communication is vital to learning in the OLE and the first step in facilitating effective learning discussions is designing effective questions. By using Bloom's Taxonomy as well as the Taxonomy of Socratic Questioning as guides, instructors can frame questions so that students are not merely stating facts or opinions but are, instead, critically evaluating their own and their classmates' responses. This, in turn, leads to substantive discussions as the instructor, through skilled facilitation, turns simple topics into issues to be explored, researched and critiqued as students begin to assimilate the information and knowledge into their own experiences and prior knowledge.
Socratic questioning is a method of using questions that provide the opportunity to think critically and creatively so that students are discussing ideas, statements, and issues related to a topic, rather than just taking a cursory look at the topic itself. Students are given the opportunity to express their own thoughts in their own words, as well as the opportunity to explore issues in depth. There are several different kinds of questions used in this method, all of which encourage a deeper, wider exploration of issues. Examples of each of the following types of questions can be found in the Resources.
- Clarification Questions
- Questions about Initial Issue
- Assumption Probes
- Reason and Evidence Probes
- Origin or Source Questions
- Implication or Consequence Questions
- Viewpoint Questions
Another method that is often used in both direct instruction and also in teaching questioning techniques to students is Bloom's Taxonomy. The following chart has been adapted from Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook I, cognitive domain. New York; Toronto: Longmans, Green. It can be found at the Learning Skills Program, University of Victoria: http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/
- observation and recall of information
- knowledge of dates, events, places
- knowledge of major ideas
- mastery of subject matter
- Question Cues:
list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect, examine, tabulate, quote, name, who, when, where, etc.
- understanding information
- grasp meaning
- translate knowledge into new context
- interpret facts, compare, contrast
- order, group, infer causes
- predict consequences
- Question Cues:
summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict, associate, distinguish, estimate, differentiate, discuss, extend
- use information
- use methods, concepts, theories in new situations
- solve problems using required skills or knowledge
- Questions Cues:
apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate, show, solve, examine, modify, relate, change, classify, experiment, discover
- seeing patterns
- organization of parts
- recognition of hidden meanings
- identification of components
- Question Cues:
analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer
- use old ideas to create new ones
- generalize from given facts
- relate knowledge from several areas
- predict, draw conclusions
- Question Cues:
combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, what if?, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite
- compare and discriminate between ideas
- assess value of theories, presentations
- make choices based on reasoned argument
- verify value of evidence
- recognize subjectivity
- Question Cues
assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize
These questioning strategies place the emphasis on student understanding rather than on the teacher as the "sage on the stage." The focus is on assimilation and formation of new knowledge with prior knowledge so that students now have their own interpretation based on this new "construction." Watching learners take an issue, assimilate and analyze it, and add more dimensions to it as they discuss and critique each issue is an extraordinary and rewarding learning experience for both student and instructor.
Part 3 in September will answer the question -- I've designed the questions. Now what?
Gazette Articles by Leslie Bowman & George París Conway: