Engaging your students in Discussion Questions

Engaging your students in Discussion Questions

Do you ever feel that a large majority of your students do the bare minimum when engaging in their online class discussions? I have noticed that as I move into the second part of the semester that the participation in my discussion questions really drops. To fight this, I have come up with two strategies I would like to share with you. I will not pretend that it works for all of the students but I am able to successfully engage a small percentage by applying the following techniques.

The first technique I use to engage "my bare minimum students" is to go back to the their original posting of their introductory bio before responding to one of their posted discussion questions. I look for any fact I can pull out and creatively apply when reading and subsequently responding to their latest discussion posting. For example, if the student had indicated they were going to veterinary school and the discussion topic they responded to was about fractures...I could say something like the following:

"Steve, great posting here on compound fractures and the standard treatment options for a geriatric patient. I know you mentioned that you are starting your veterinary program at Community College of Denver in the fall so I was wondering if you knew how a veterinarian would set a compound fracture. Is the procedure similar for humans and felines? Class....does anyone know the answer to this?"

The key is to let the student know that I remember him as an individual. This often leads to the students feeling more connected and engaged. They realize that I am looking closely at their work as an individual and what they contribut to class is important.

Another key strategy is to ask the group to answer a question like I did in the last sentence above. Students that may have had a pet or a family member that had a broken limb may join this discussion. I try to ask a question to the student as well as to the entire class when responding to a discussion question posting.

These two strategies have both helped me to keep many of the students from disengaging in the second half of the semester. I hope using one or both of these strategies helps you "catch" a few of those students who are doing the bare minimum in your class as well!

Thank you,

Jennifer Harr, RN, MSN