TLT-SWG
Highly Moderated Listserver 
Since 1994

LEARN ABOUT TLTG
EVENTS AND REGISTRATION
PROGRAMS
RESOURCES
LISTSERV AND FORUMS
corporate sponsors
RELATED LINKS

 
Faculty/Professional Development Program

Dangerous Discussions Home Page
Engaging Dangerous Discussions: Heat and Light Without Flames

Class Size Home Page

CLASS SIZE:  Enhance Community Within Large Courses
 Ideas for Building Community
from Shauna Schullo of Univ. of So. Fla.

Dangerous Discussions: 
Topics/Questions Among Faculty, Administration, and Staff
- (especially, about Teaching, Learning, and Technology)
10) Ideas for Building Community from Shauna Schullo of University of South Florida

From: Schullo, Shauna [sschullo@tempest.coedu.usf.edu

Ideas for building community: 

A class photo album online that includes names

 - how to: use a digital camera, name placards the students print on with a marker, and a program such as Photoshop (or others) that have easy to use tools for creating a photo web page (see http://www.schullo.com/Vacations/New_England/photo.htm for an example of a quick photo album created in Photoshop). These options are also often included in the software that comes with the camera or with other programs such as Microsoft Digital Media (about $20.00).

Have students create web pages (easy if using a tool such as Blackboard for online content). The web pages should included information about who they are and what they are interested in by directing them with some specific questions or examples.  This lets the students get to know each other by looking at their home pages outside of class.  FYI - the instructors should also have similar pages to make those connections as well.

Ideas for increasing discussions in online communities:

Make it count toward the grade is the most successful, but you need to give them some guidance. For example, I use a rubric to grade discussions that lets the student know what is expected.  Here is what I use:

 Discussion Rubric For Distance Learning Course

All assigned discussions will be graded based on a rubric so you know what to expect. This rubric will be repeated at the top of each discussion assignment to remind you that you are expected to certain tasks the discussion exercises. Discussions are one form of interaction between students in the class and with your instructor. As you will learn this semester, these interactions are a very important part of distance learning. Therefore, they are a large portion of your grade. Please be sure you understand how they will be graded and that you are aware of proper Netiquette for communicating in electronic formats. If you need a Netiquette refresher, check out the Resources area of the course site.

 

 Discussion Rubric

Objectives - Student participates substantially in weekly discussions, contributing to the learning community by not only posting original messages, but replying to those of others in the class.

0 Points

1 Point

2 Points

3 Points
(this one is not assigned for personal reflections)

You will get 0 points if your entries do not add to the discussion in any substantial manner. These are typically entries that simply agree with what someone else said or just restate what someone else said. Original posting that do not answer the question also fall in this category.

You will get 1 point if your entries contribute some original thinking to the discussion but a) are still somewhat superficial in thought or b) do not use the theoretical terminology of the course or c) if you simply reply to another posting and do not enter an original posting of your own.

You will get 2 points if your entries contribute substantially to the discussion and use the theoretical terminology of the course. These entries are what we are striving for as a scholar group working toward graduate degrees.

If the discussion warrants reflection on the entries of your peers, the discussion will be worth 3 points. In these cases, you will receive the 3rd point if you add to the ideas of others and help  the discussion move to another level. You will get no additional points if you do not hold up your side of the conversation. For example, "I agree with what you said in your post", does not count as moving the discussion to the next level.

 

I have also found that some of the best discussions are in forums where the students have some options.  We do a discussion called a "Round Table" based on a round table discussion you might attend at a conference.  These discussions are weighted heavier than others because more participation is required.   Here is an example of what the student sees for this assignment:

Module 4 - Discussion & Writing Assignment
Distance Learning Topics of Interest - A Round Table Event

Note - This assignment will be weighted differently than other discussion assignments.
It will count as both a discussion assignment and a writing assignment for a total of 12 points. I have also found that some of the best discussions are in forums where the students have some options.  We do a discussion called a "Round Table" based on a round table discussion you might attend at a conference.  These discussions are weighted heavier than others because more participation is

D6/W4 - Round Table Discussion

A conference "round table" typically has several relevant topics or questions for discussion or information sharing as part of the session's theme, all going on at the same time. Several participants discuss a question or relevant topic for a given period of time. Each table has a facilitator to monitor and stimulate the topic discussion. After a given period of time, the participants may move to another table and will participate in discussing another topic or question for the allotted time with a different facilitator presiding, and so on. We will conduct our own round table discussion during this module, which will serve as both your discussion and written assignments. It is best to post to your first round table contribution early in the module, visiting it and other topics again throughout the module until the discussions close.

The purpose of this virtual round table is to look at various topics of interest which will not be heavily emphasized during the semester, but warrant some exploration and consideration, or to visit new topics each semester which may ultimately be added to the course content. The class will drive the round tables based on individual student's chosen areas of interest. Some areas may not attract any discussion. We have suggested areas below and provided a starter list of resources under the Module 4 Readings. Read what you think is necessary and relevant to your primary topic of interest, and feel free to research and share other sources of information within your posting.

Instructions:

  1. Choose a Topic of Interest or begin your own thread with a relevant area of interest not already listed. Research your topic and post to discussion board D6/W4 Various Topics of Interest Round Table under your specific area of interest. Your posting should be at least several paragraphs and state some of the information you found and personal perspectives, analysis, or opinions. Respond to at least one other posting in your area of interest in a meaningful way to facilitate discussion.

  2. After posting and responding in your own area of interest, visit the other discussion threads, as in a conference "round table" discussion, and post or stimulate discussion to other student's areas of interest with questions or comments.

Point assignment:

Your posts in your chosen area of interest will be assessed (up to 6 points; 4 for your original posting and 2 for additional participation/facilitation of the discussion in your area of interest), as well as up to two other round tables in which you participate (3 points each according to the standard grading rubric below).

Note: Commenting on more than three boards (your main topic and two others) will not get you extra credit. Participate in more only if you have interest in the topics. This equates to 12 points total to be awarded for Module 4. Remember that your primary area of interest will be graded with the greatest weight, so read up on your topic and think/write before posting. You are advised to choose and post to your area of interest early in the module. Try to return to your discussion and others through out the module to keep the conversation flowing.

Some Topics of Interest include, but are not limited to:

  • E-Learning

  • ADA and Accessibility Issues

  • Copyright Issues

  • Industry Standards

  • International or Global Markets

  • Learning Objects

  • Digital Divide

  • Instructional Design in Distance Learning

  • New Ideas

The students seem to like having a choice which topic interests them and the conversations in this discussion board are always better than others.

Here is one idea that I also have on assessing group activities.  I use peer evaluation when working in teams.  It gives the students a chance to voice how they feel about working in a group and if they feel one member is slacking.  It also seems to encourage those who might slack to at least make friends with their groupmates so they do not get bad marks.  It is not perfect, but I feel it is a better approach than giving everyone the same grade regardless of how they participated in the group work.
 
 

Ideas for evaluation of groups:

Here is what they use to do evaluations of their group members and themselves:

 Group and Self Evaluation

Distance Learning Course

Your name:

Group Name:

Date:

Project Name:

Instructions

Use this form to evaluate the members of the group as well as yourself.
Write the name of each group member in one of the columns, then assign
a score of 0 to 5 (0 being the lowest, 5 the highest) to each group member for each criterion.
Then total the scores for each member. Because each group member has different
strengths and weaknesses, the scores you assign will differ.
At the bottom of this sheet make any comments that would like about your group
interactions both positive and negative. 
You will submit this via the assignment area when requested. 
A copy will be available at that time for download or you can keep a copy for yourself
that you will upload when requested.

Criteria

Group Members

 

 

 

 

 

Regularly attends meetings

 

 

 

 

 

Is prepared at the meetings

 

 

 

 

 

Meets deadlines

 

 

 

 

 

Contributes good ideas in meetings

 

 

 

 

 

Contributes ideas diplomatically

 

 

 

 

 

Submits high-quality work

 

 

 

 

 

Listens to other members

 

 

 

 

 

Shows respect for other members

 

 

 

 

 

Helps to reduce conflict

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your overall assessment of this person's contribution

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Points

 

 

 

 

 

 

Open Ended Group Evaluation

Aspects of our group interactions that were successful:

  

Aspects of our group interactions we need to improve in the Future:

Additional Comments on Group Interactions:

Open Ended Self Evaluation

 

My personal contributions to the group for this project were:

Aspects of My Participation That Were Successful:

 

Aspects of My Participation That I Want to Improve in the Future:

I then use the scores here in a formula to calculate individual grades for each member based on the group grade and the evaluations.  Sometimes it is obvious that there is a personality conflict among one or two group members. This is taken into consideration and does not usually affect the grade. However, if all members of a group rate someone low, it is assumed that person did not pull their weight or was not beneficial to the group environment and it does effect their grade.  Here is how I grade the assignments:

 Group grade*(Peer evaluation Factor) = Individual grade

The Peer evaluation factor is calculated by summing the evaluations and dividing by the total possible (i.e.. 4 people in a group = 200 possible from evaluations so if you get a 48, 47, 50 (from yourself :-)), and a 48 your factor would be 0.965)