Strategies for Improving the Discussion Post Assignment Experience

by Walter Milner, Instructional Designer IV, Learning and Educational Center

Discussion posts are an important component of higher education courses and are utilized in almost every online course, or online component of courses, given at our university. They are a forum where students can both engage with course content and with each other. In graduate level courses, where the same group of students often take courses together in a program, relationships can be formed through discussion posts as students are attracted to certain posts because they relate to a style of thought, an ethic, or feel drawn to respond critically to posts. In an online course, discussion posts are one of the areas that differentiate a course from one that feels like an independent study (Fry, 2024).

Discussion post assignments can be a valuable tool for learning, the way discussions are structured and the way that discussion prompts are written have a lot to do with how effective these assignments are. Unfortunately, for many students, discussions are mechanical, uninspiring, and overall unpleasant. Given that they often must complete many discussion posts during a semester, students start to develop negative feelings toward these exercises, and they may end up just going through the motions rather than engaging enthusiastically and productively. A Buzzfeed article from a few years ago (Martinez, 2019) makes this point by sharing some honest tweets from college students about discussion assignments. Here are a few examples that were shared:

“College discussion board: Jim: 2+2=4 Me: Wow Jim I totally agree. I like how you added the 2’s together and got 4, very insightful.”

“Alright I’m never submitting first on a discussion board ever again because the rest of the class is just rewording what I said”

“Discussion board: You must reply to 2 other classmates Classmate: The War occurred in 1812 me: I agree, the war did occur in 1812”

“Discussion board posts: Student: I love bread Me: Joe, I agree with you! I love bread too. I liked the part when you said you loved bread. Great point!”

“The fakest version of myself is on canvas discussion posts”

 

These quotes illustrate some of the reasons students may dislike discussion assignments. There are various strategies and approaches that can be taken to improve the discussion post experience so that discussions can be effective and engaging for students in your courses.

 

1. Make it more like an actual discussion:

If you are utilizing discussions hold students accountable for readings or answer complex prompts that require the student to give citations and research-based answers, then you may want to consider doing it as a regular assignment submission instead (Fry, 2024; Gernsbacher, 2016). In traditional face-to-face classes, lively discussions are a key area for engagement (Lieberman, 2019) and by taking certain approaches with the discussion forums, there may be a way to capture some of that energy.

One way to do this is to make it more like an actual conversation by asking open-ended questions (Morris, as quoted in Lieberman, 2019). If a discussion prompt has a finite set of possible responses, such as asking for a list of facts, a specific point made in a reading assignment, or previously established information, then it won’t make for a good discussion (Page & Abbott, 2020). A better approach would be to ask for the students’ opinions, critical analysis, or assessment of the content they are focused on.

For example, if you are asking about what events contributed to a historical outcome, rather than asking them to list the events, you can ask them to consider which significant events tend to be overlooked and why (Page & Abbott, 2020). Then, you can ask other students to respond by deciding if they agree or disagree, and why. You can use action words in the instructions such as “find”, “explain”, “describe”, “compare”, or “identify” to elicit more engagement (Gernsbacher, 2016). For example, you can ask students to identify a quote in the reading that interested/surprised/annoyed them and have them explain why. You can make it more interesting by asking them to find quotes that no one else in the class has used, so that they don’t just repeat or copy other students’ responses.

Another way to make online discussions more conversational is to ask students to talk about their personal experiences and also to connect the discussion to real-world contexts (Liu & Yang, 2014). These are strategies that don’t require a lot of extra research for students and allow them to easily engage in back-and-forth conversations that feel more like an in-person discussion (Fry, 2024).

2. Get into it:

A discussion may take on an added value for students if their instructor is part of it. Beyond giving feedback from an assessment point of view (Fry, 2024), instructors can get involved in the actual discussion points, replying thoughtfully to engage with students on the content of the discussion.  This can also help set the tone, set examples for quality and level of thoughtfulness, and generally help to engage students more fully in the exercise.

Research has shown that an effective method for increasing student participation in discussion posts is for the instructor to engage in Socratic questioning (Ringler et al., 2015). Students have shown a more positive attitude towards discussions and felt more motivated to participate when their instructor was actively involved in the discussion (Tibi, 2018). Student outcomes have been shown to be improved when faculty posts focus on instruction and provide additional resources when relevant (Hoey, 2017). Interestingly, student perceptions of both the quality of the course and of the instructor were improved when their instructor posted in a conversational tone and shared personal perspectives (Hoey, 2017).

3. Change how you assign the discussion

Discussions may be more engaging in smaller groups. If you have a large class, it may be beneficial to break down the class into groups of six or eight students and assign parallel discussions for each group (Gernsbacher, 2016). By creating a smaller group, students can engage with each other more closely and respond among the same few students throughout the course, developing ongoing conversations and a greater sense of community. You can use Canvas features like Groups and Assign To, to set up and assign specific students or groups to the discussions.

You can also be creative with how you assign the responses to other students’ prompts. For example, you could direct students to only respond to another student to whom no one has responded, or to respond to the same student they responded to for the last discussion (Gernsbacher, 2016). Another strategy is to assign responses alphabetically (A-I, J-P, etc.), directing students to respond to someone in the same alphabet range as their own (Fry, 2024). Other approaches can include things like asking students to engage in (friendly) debates with their classmates (Fry, 2024). Ask students to find and respond to a post that they disagree with and explain why or ask them to offer a different point of view to someone else in the class.

4. Change up the format

There are other ways you can allow students to respond to discussion prompts that may be exciting and engaging for them. For example, you can allow students to respond with PowerPoint presentations, videos, infographs, or concept maps (Lieberman, 2019). You can also require one of these alternate formats, and then for the responses have students evaluate each other or compare their submissions, offering specific question prompts such as, “How does your presentation compare?” or “What did you learn from this concept map that was not included in your own?” etc. (Lieberman, 2019). When students know a peer will be evaluating their work, they are more motivated to produce higher quality submissions (Hanadi Hamadi et al., 2023).

Video can be an engaging format for discussions that can enhance learning outcomes while increasing social presence and fostering a sense of community (Milovic & Dingus, 2021). There are a variety of tools available to allow students to record video and upload to a discussion board, including an option to record video within Canvas in a discussion board through the Rich Content Editor. You can take it a step further by asking students to meet in small groups online using a tool such as Zoom and have an actual synchronous discussion based on a specific set of prompts that they would record and submit for the assignment (Milovic & Dingus, 2021). These can be short (20 minutes or so) sessions that require no editing, and you can assign a group leader to schedule and moderate the discussion (Milovic & Dingus, 2021). You can also allow students to sign up to a discussion group based on their preferred time slot using the appointments feature in the Canvas calendar.

Another format you can consider is offering an optional alternative live session that students can attend allowing them to skip the discussion board (Simon, 2018). This would be an instructor-led synchronous discussion that requires students to prepare responses for a predetermined prompt but allows them to participate in the live session instead (Simon, 2018). These sessions can be recorded and uploaded into Canvas for other students to watch.

5. Get creative

You can explore other creative approaches to discussions that may help engage students in new ways. For example, you can do role play through a discussion which prompts students to respond to each other in a back-and-forth scenario (Fry, 2024). Another creative approach is to have students come up with the discussion prompts for their classmates to answer (McRay et al., 2016). The student would then moderate and give feedback on the discussion the same way an instructor would, with the whole process overseen by their instructor to ensure quality and address issues (McRay et al., 2016). This exercise would help students think more deeply and critically about the course content and has been shown to result in high levels of student engagement (McRay et al., 2016).

Discussions can be a valuable learning tool for students if they are designed with thought and intention. Using different approaches can help engage students who may otherwise have sour feelings about discussion assignments, as well as increase the effectiveness of discussions for all students. It is also important to note that discussion assignments should support the learning objectives in the course and/or module. Ideally, discussions should lead to increased success in other areas of the course and on other assessments (Fry, 2024).

If you are looking for help on designing better discussions, or any other course design needs, you can reach out to the NSU Learning and Educational Center. You can book an online one-on-one appointment with an instructional designer through the LEC’s DesignLink platform.

References

Fry, S. (2024, May 14). Improving online community, with Sheila Fry. Youtube; USDLA TV. https://youtu.be/pMDNYPZlwrQ?si=fnSHuTMU_b_Gzoos

Gernsbacher, M. A. (2016). Five tips for improving online discussion boards. APS Observer, 29. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/five-tips-for-improving-online-discussion-boards#:~:text=Five%20Tips%20for%20Improving%20Online%20Discussion%20Boards%201

Hanadi Hamadi, Tafili, A., Kates, F. R., Larson, S. A., Ellison, C., & Song, J. (2023). Exploring an innovative approach to enhance discussion board engagement. Tech Trends, 67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-023-00850-0

Hoey, R. S. (2017). A critical analysis of characteristics that influence the effect of instructor discussion interaction on student outcomes. Online Learning, 21(4). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v21i4.1075

Lieberman, M. (2019). Discussion boards: Valuable? Overused? Discuss. Insidehighered.com. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/03/27/new-approaches-discussion-boards-aim-dynamic-online-learning

Liu, C.-J., & Yang, S. C. (2014). Using the community of inquiry model to investigate students’ knowledge construction in asynchronous online discussions. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 51(3), 327–354. https://doi.org/10.2190/ec.51.3.d

Martinez, K. (2019, September 21). 17 Funny college discussion board tweets. BuzzFeed; BuzzFeed. https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/students-on-discussion-board-posts-who-are-honestly-trying

McRay, J., Goertzen, B., & Klaus, K. (2016). Student-Moderated discussion boards in a graduate online course. The Journal of Leadership Education, 15(1), 150–160. https://doi.org/10.12806/v15/i1/a6

Milovic, A., & Dingus, R. (2021). How to not disappear completely: Using video-based discussions to enhance student social presence in an online course. Marketing Education Review, 31(4), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2021.1943447

Page, A., & Abbott, M. (2020, February 3). A discussion about online discussion. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-student-engagement/discussion-about-online-discussion/

Ringler, I., Schubert, C., Deem, J., Flores, J., Friestad-Tate, J., & Lockwood, R. (2015). Improving the asynchronous online learning environment using discussion boards. I-Manager’s Journal of Educational Technology.  https://purdueglobal.dspacedirect.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/334b6064-089e-4a9c-bf64-a738ebda55d8/content

Simon, E. (2018, November 21). 10 tips for effective online discussions. Er.educause.edu. https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2018/11/10-tips-for-effective-online-discussions

Tibi, M. H. (2018). Computer science students’ attitudes towards the use of structured and unstructured discussion forums in fully online courses. Online Learning, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v22i1.995