post university's online discussion forum guideline

04/10/2023 1

An Online Discussion Forum Guideline:

A Win-Win for Students and Instructors

Zvi Goldman, PhD, MBAMarketing ConcentrationOnline MBA ProgramPost UniversityWaterbury, CT

Zvi Goldman - Discussion Guideline

Balance Discussions* for Value and Workload

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Context

* Online and Asynchronous

Discussion Guideline: • Minimum Requirements

• “Best Practices”

Discussions contribution for: • Value Perception• Student Satisfaction• Student Retention

Discussions Workload for: • Students• Instructors

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Online Discussion is Critical to Program Success“What Factors Impact Student Retention and Success?”

Online Discussion Role and Significance

The survey message is clear:

Focus more on:• High-contact engagements• Group sharing/learning • Active, hands-on participation

Focus less on:• Non-interactive assignments• Technology for the sake of technology

Source:


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Quality Online Discussions Don’t Just ‘Happen’

The quality of an online discussion is not a random occurrence; its success largely depends on a carefully constructed design plan and execution.



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Structured Discussions Lead to Quality Interaction

Many studies have related certain group structures to quality of online postings. High level structured groups found more instrumental than low level structured groups in facilitating critical thinking and interaction in the online discussion environment.



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The instructional value and educational importance of online asynchronous threaded discussions are highlighted by many studies, which emphasize the critical role of student-instructor interactions in promoting critical thinking.

Student-Instructor Interaction is Critical



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Instructor’s Quality Presence is Essential

Instructor’s quality of presence in online classes (cognitive, social, and teaching presence) has been significantly associated with, learner satisfaction, learning outcomes, course success and student retention rate.



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Weekly Discussion CharacteristicsExample of assessed Discussion workload:

Discussion Load and the Quality Challenge


Typical Weekly Discussion Characteristics

Number of students in class 12Number of Discussion threads 2.5Number of required postings per Discussion thread 4Expected text lines per posting 6

Typical Weekly Discussion WorkloadFor Content Type Posting Reading

Text Lines 60 823Text Lines 103 720

A StudentAn Instructor

!!!

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Course and Discussion Workloads



Category (n)Average Student Weekly Load, hours

Discussion / Course LoadCourse Discussion

Foundation (32) 14.4 7.7 54%

Core (67) 16.9 8.9 53%

Concentration (8) 21.5 15.5 72%

All (108) 16.5 9.0 55%

Category (n)Average Instructor Weekly Load, hours

Discussion / Course LoadCourse Discussion

Foundation (6) 14.8 9.7 64%Core (13) 18.2 12.5 68%Concentration (10) 11.5 8.0 66%All (29) 15.2 10.4 66%

Weekly Discussions consume over 9 hours, ~60% of Course workload:

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Need / Challenge StatementThe need: From all perspectives, the Discussions need to be valuable, productive and efficient.

The challenge : Provide students with the best possible Discussion learning experience while keeping the associated workload manageable for both students and instructors.

The approach: Post University Online MBA Program has recently launched an Online Discussion Forum Guideline for all teaching staff, faculty and adjuncts, to help accomplish and sustain a balance between Discussion quality and workload.



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Online Discussion Forum Guideline GoalsAchieve consistency: Institute a single reference guideline, common to all teaching staff.

Support a culture of excellence and continuous improvement: Encourage all to share 'Best Practices’.

Optimize learning experience: Harness the practical experience of the entire teaching staff.

Find optimal balance: between learning experience quality, productivity and efficiency.

Promote Program’s quality and differentiation.



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Discussion Guideline Inclusive Approach

GO

One Guideline Fits All!

Online Discussion Guideline Design Approach


Minimum Requirements "Best Practices"::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::::: :::

Primarily the responsibility of:

Course developers and/or the Faculty in chargeCourse instructors

I. Design & Develop

II. Set Expectations

III. Launch & Manage

Discussion-Related Actions

Guideline Content

Do & Don't Categories

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Guideline Content Definitions

Minimum Requirements: Required minimum standards and actions from all instructors, promoting consistency across Post University Online MBA Program.

“Best Practices”: Suggested tested practices and behaviors which exceed the minimum requirements, promoting Post University Online MBA Program excellence and differentiation.

Online Discussion Guideline Design Approach


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Design & Develop: Minimum RequirementsTypically determined by course developers and maintained by course instructors:

Install a non-graded thread for non-course-related communication.Develop 2-4 discussion threads for each week.Include threads for general questions at critical junctures of the course.Integrate discussion topics related to or reflective of concurrently addressed weekly content.Design many evidence-based discussions (supported by student's experience and research).Articulate the topics to promote critical thinking and argumentation.Allocate at least 25% of the total course grade to discussions.Include the discussion grading rubrics based on the expectations below in the syllabus.

Online Discussion Guideline Content


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Set Expectations: Minimum RequirementsImplemented by the course developer or the course instructor. Expect students to:

Read all postings.

Start posting no later than Wednesday on each Discussion thread.

Show substantive presence on discussions at least three days a week.

Respond to the original/seed question and all other questions directly addressed to them.

Post at least four substantive contributions on each discussion thread.

Offer evidence-based support (of own experience and cited research) at least once per thread.

Demonstrate course knowledge and critical thinking.

Apply normative/proper English and grammar (no texting or abbreviations).



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Launch & Manage: Minimum RequirementsMay typically be implemented by the course instructor:

Greet students on the first Discussion week and facilitate introductions.Respond to all questions addressed to the instructor within 24 hours.Draw lagging students in and inform the Student Advisors of no-shows.Acknowledge individuals with great contributions and stop unprofessional online behaviors.Manage the Discussion quality to benefit all students - discourage fluff postings.Facilitate, evolve and maintain the Discussions to focus on stated unit/course objectives.Show substantive presence at least four days a week, including one week-end day.Challenge students to think deeper, differently and critically.Share your own knowledge and experience.Identify and manage (off-line) students with sub-par language skills.Grade Discussions by Wednesday of the following week.Report to APM on important issues (no-shows, plagiarism, etc.)



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Launch & Manage: ExamplePresence Management:

Show presence on the Discussion board at least four days a week, including one week-end day.

•Manage (not in a micro/restrictive way) and facilitate the discussion. •Respond substantively to all questions addressed to you, and comment on many other postings; be opportunistic in leveraging students' posting to: confirm/rephrase views, request references/proofs, extend/direct the topic, stop digression/misunderstandings, prevent off-topic ranting, ask for relevant experiences, motivate to think deeper, harder and differently. •Read all new postings and make your presence felt daily.

Action

Minimum Requirements

“Best Practices”



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Survey DesignSurveyed data being collected from Students and Instructors:

Program Implementation


Student InstructorMatching byFactor

Factor Pre-course GPAFactor Number of courses taken concurrently Number of courses teaching concurrentlyFactor Experience with content Experience with content

Dependent Weekly Course hourly load Weekly Course hourly loadDependent Weekly Course perceived load Weekly Course perceived loadDependent Perceived Course value Perceived Course valueDependent Weekly Discussion hourly load Weekly Discussion hourly loadDependent Weekly Discussion perceived load Weekly Discussion perceived loadDependent Perceived Discussion value Perceived Discussion value

Variable Type Data Collected From

Course ID and ScheduleNumber students in class

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Reported Weekly Quantitative WorkloadAssessing the hours workload for students and instructors:


<6 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 >250%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

Distribution of Weekly Average Load for Discussions, hours

StudentsInstructors


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Perceived Workloads



0. no load

1. minor load

2. medium

load

3. heavy load

4. very heavy load

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Distribution of Perceived Student Weekly Average Load

CourseDiscussion

0. no load

1. minor load

2. medium

load

3. heavy load

4. very heavy load

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Distribution of Perceived Instructor Weekly Average Load

CourseDiscussion

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1 2 3 4 5 60

5

10

15

20

25

30

9.0

6.57.9

11.9 12.2

Students' Discussion Load Perception (All)

Discussion Load, Levels

Dis

cuss

ion

Load

, hou

rsMapping of Student’s Workload Perception

None Minor Medium Heavy Very Heavy

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Perceived Student Value



0. no value 1. minor value 2. fair value 3. high value 4. very high value

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Distribution of Perceievd Students Value

CourseDiscussion

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Discussion Workload-Value Balance

0 5 10 15 20 250

5

10

15

20

25Discussion Loads and Percived Value by Students

All DataVery Hight ValuesLow Values

Discussion Load (hours, Students)

Dis

cuss

ion

Load

(hou

rs, I

nstr

ucto

rs)

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Summary

Facilitated Discussion is critical to student engagement, satisfaction and retention Quality Discussions are time consuming for all, constituting more than half of the course workload A Minimum Requirements Discussion Guideline would benefit students, instructors and Post Perceived as a Core Competence for Post, the Minimum Requirements should be followed by all stake holders Students and Instructors spend on average 9.7 weekly hours on Discussion, ~60% of the overall Course

workload The perceived Discussion load was mostly Medium-Heavy by Students and Medium by Instructors Each perceived workload level was associated with a wide range of reported workload hours; 'Heavy' &'Very

Heavy' ranges (average of 12 hours) were significantly higher than 'Minor' &'Medium' ranges (average of 7.2 hours)

Over 2/3 of Students perceived the Value for both Course and Discussion to be 'High' or 'Fair' There was no significant correlation found between Workload and Value, but a significant associations were

found for the Very High Value and the Low Value Discussion Perceptions: Students and Instructors Discussion Workloads correlated significantly and positively in promoting Very

High Value perception (i.e. Students perceived a high value in Discussion when they matched the time spent by Instructors)

Students and Instructors Discussion Workloads correlated significantly and negatively in promoting Low Value perception (i.e. Students perceived a low value in Discussion when their time on Discussion was not matched my Instructor time)

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Open Discussion on Online Discussion

Quality & Value

Workload for Instructors

Workload for Students

How to balance?

What should be the Minimum Requirements?


Student SurveyHello Post MBA Students: You are invited to participate in a voluntary survey which will help us improve services to our students. Please help us collect honest data that will help us better design our Discussions and balance their load within the overall course load for you.

Select the course and section number:

[List of courses and sections provided]

Enter the number of additional MBA courses taken concurrently at Post University with the course you report on now.

[Choices: 0, 1, 2]

Enter your GPA coming into the class (use x.xx numeric format).

[Number expected]

Looking back, how much relevant experience (previous exposure to the taught content) did you have coming into this course?

[Choices: 1. None, 2. Negligible, 3. Some, 4. Fair, 5. Substantive]

On average, how many hours per week have you spent on this course (including reading, research, discussion, assignment and communication with peers and instructors)? Use x.x numeric format.

[Number expected]

How would you rate the overall Course load for you in this class?

[Choices: 1. no load, 2. minor load, 3. medium load, 4. heavy load, 5. very heavy load]

How would you rate the overall Course value for you in this class?

[Choices: 1. no value, 2. minor value, 3. fair value, 4. high value, 5. very high value]

On average, how many hours per week have you spent specifically on Discussion (including research, reading and posting)?

[Number expected]

How would you rate the overall Discussion load for you in this class?


How would you rate the overall Discussion value for you in this class?



Instructor SurveyHello Post MBA Instructors: You are invited to participate in a voluntary survey which will help us improve services to our students. Please help us collect honest data that will help us better design our Discussions and balance their load within the overall course load for you.

Select the course and section number.

[List of courses and sections provided]

Enter the number of additional courses you teach concurrently with the course you report on now.

[Choices: 0, 1, 2]

Enter number of students in class at the time of the survey.

[Number expected]

How would you rate your professional experience level with the course content?

[Choice: 1: average, 2: above average, 3: substantial, 4: very high, 5: top expert]

On average, how many hours per week have you spent on teaching this course (including management, discussion and grading; not including development)?

[Number expected]

How would you rate the overall Course load for you in this class?


How would you rate the overall Course value for your students in this class?


On average, how many hours per week have you spent specifically on Discussions (including reading, posting and grading; not including development)?

[Number expected]

How would you rate the Discussion load for you in this class?


How would you rate the overall Discussion value for your students in this class?


Are you teaching another course or section in this MOD? If so, please indicate yes and you will be prompted to retake the survey for that particular course or section. If you click no, the survey will be complete.

[Choices: Yes, No]


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Students Sample Characteristics

• A total of 109 sections included, 31% Foundation, 61% Core and 7% Concentration

• Average number of concurrently taken courses was1.3• 73% of students have taken one course at the time• 52% of students were from CT• Average reported GPA was 3.69, 3.78 and 3.65 for Concentration, Core and

Foundation courses, respectively• Average reported GPA (3.74) did not change between modules• 63% of students reported to have ‘some’ to’fair’ level of experience coming

into the course, 26% reported to have ‘none’ or ‘negligible’ experience only

post university's online discussion forum guideline

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