Electronic discussion forums: enhancing critical thinking

Discussion forums - enhancing critical thinking

A short description of some practical experiences with the use of on-line discussion forums to improve student critical thinking in the secondary environment (Please note that this is not intended to be an academic article)

Introduction

Year 10, 11 and 12 students in Economics classes engaged in teacher moderated on-line discussion using a range of academic and topical issues. These 'conversations' took place with successive classes over a period of six years in a boys school in New Zealand. The forum tool was intended to enhance student engagement and build deep thinking skills by engaging students in the construction of economic argument.

Definition:

An electronic discussion forum is an electronic tool that allows participants to engage in asynchronous dialogue. I have been using electronic discussion forums with classes from Year 10 to Year 12 for 6 years and it seemed timely to pause and reflect on the tool.

The benefits of electronic discussion forums

I have found the following advantages for students from my use of these forums.

1. Engagement. With careful topic selection within your subject students can find their voice, with no student being 'drowned out' by others. EVERYONE contributes, and I have observed much higher levels f 'contribution than I might find in more traditional forms of discussion.
2. Improved critical thinking. Because the activity is asynchronous, all have TIME to think through their responses, the ultimate 'think time', and so the quality of their 'thinking' is better, or 'deeper'.
3. Writing. Students create lots of short arguments, I use the TEX framework: Topic statement, Explanation, eXample, and so they are getting more practice at writing.
4. Differentiation. My teacher responses are constructed to suit each individual student
5. Better feedback. Perhaps the ultimate in 'formative feedback'? ('Visible learning for Teachers', Hattie J, Routledge 2012). Evidence has suggested that students write more, and write better, electronically. This has been my observation. But interestingly so do I. I write such that students can actually read my feedback (my hand writing is awful), and I write MORE, so students are getting better quality feedback. Of course this may be a personal response.

The keys to successful use of forums

I have found that there are a number of simple rules to making forum discussions work.

1. Careful selection of topic. The topic must allow students opportunities to engage in the type of debate that you plan.
2. Safe environment. Students must feel safe (intellectually and emotionally) to contribute as they believe appropriate. Provided this isn't treated as a genuine discussion and not an opportunity to allocate marks/grades, then forums also represent another opportunity for students to feel safe to make mistakes, and seize the learning opportunities that might arise.
3. Clear rules. Clear unambiguous rules about student behaviour must be established from the beginning. Mine are: a) Respect each other, (no flame wars, attack the argument not the person) & b) No cyber-grunting ('Yer, nice one mate')
4. Teacher engagement. The teacher must actively participate just as you would with an in-class discussion

In summary, forums require exactly the same teacher disciplines as every other class based activity or discussion.

Teacher moderation

It is at the least unhelpful to simply allow forum discussions to meander along unwatched. What role can the teacher play in the discussions?

1. Correcting errors: The simple process of saying "Gail, that statement is wrong. Rethink how XXX affects YYYY and try to edit your post" can help students to improve their knowledge base in an environment where no grades are attached to their work, encouraging students to see this as a safe environment in which to make errors.
2. Extending thinking: Students can be easily guided to their own next steps in their thinking. Comments like "Jane, have you considered what might happen if..." of "Henry, how could this happen when.." etc are good feedback starters to assist students to push their thinking on.
3. Posing new questions: Students can be prompted to consider different directions in their thinking. Questions like "You have explained how and why that happens. What are the ethical considerations that we need to take into account when this happens?" or "How else might this affect the economy/world/landscape/character's development ...?" might help to push students thinking to deeper levels.

The SOLO taxonomy is a useful model to employ when coaching students in how to structure their posts/argument. This helps them to evaluate the depth of their own writing.

Models of use: Debating an issue

While there may well be a number of different models that may be used when setting up forum discussions for students, here are two.

Traditional argument & counter-argument.

Select a topical issue or an argument fundamental to your subject. For example:

1. That the planet Mars can sustain life

2. That plastic drink bottles pose a risk to society's health

3. That the market delivers the best standard of living

4. That time series data allows accurate predictions of future behaviour

Demand that students support arguments with evidence and give a source, a 'mini bibliography'

Differing points of view

Select your topic/create a contention

1. Create separate threads in which students construct arguments for, and against, that contention. Gives them practice in constructing argument/thinking
2. Ask everyone to select one other student's argument, and critique it. Gives practice in critical thinking

e.g. Arguments about economic growth

Thread 1: Create arguments in favour of continuing economic growth

Thread 2: Create arguments against continuing economic growth

How much should we expect from students?

Student will typically meet out expectations. If we expect poor quality debate we are likely to get it. If we expect and nurture higher order debate that is what we will get. On the question of how much can we expect form them, research in the tertiary environment suggests that students will meet the minimum  teacher expectation. 

I have three approaches to defining how much is enough.

1. When beginning a topic I might specify one post by the next day in order to 'get the ball rolling'. I will often discuss these first posts in class the next day, using examples of specific posts to illustrate acceptable posts, posts that tackle the issue or go off topic etc.
2. Once the topic is underway I am more likely to demand a set number of posts within a given time frame. For example I might ask for four posts by the end of the week. This seems to encourage students to match their posts to the intensity of debate. I may occasionally discuss posts in class but prefer to limit the discourse to the on-line environment.
3. When I prompt a student to expand, amend or edit a post I expect an answer. I point out in class that if I were to ask a question in class, face to face, I would expect them to answer. I see on-line discussions no differently.

On occasion students will exceed the minimum. At times they find themselves caught up in an argument with a peer, one that they are determined to 'win'.

Bibliography

Here is a small selection of research papers on the subject of the efficacy of on-line discussion forums.

"Discussion facilitation", Pedagogical Repository, Teaching Online, http://topr.online.ucf.edu/index.php/Discussion_Facilitation, last Accessed 1 May 2013

'"Effective use of discussion forums"

http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Effective_Use_of_Discussion_Boards, last Accessed 1 May 2013

"Pedagogy in cyberspace: The dynamics of online discourse", Cindy Xin & Andrew Feenberg, Journal of Distance Education, Fall 2006, Vol 21, No 2

"Student Interactions in Online Discussion Forum: Empirical Research from ‘Media Richness Theory’ Perspective", M S Balaji, Diganta Chakrabarti, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE Universtiy, Hyderbad, India 2010

http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/9.1.1.pdf

"Teaching critical thinking with electronic discussion", Steven A Greenlaw & Stephen B DeLoach. Journal of Economic Education, Winter 2003,

Contemplations on the demand for money...

Last week I was teaching classes about the quantity theory of money. We’d started with the crude quantity theory (price level is proportional to the money supply) and discussion shifted to a discussion of the concept of the market for money, and specifically the demand for money. Analysis of the money markets doesn’t feature in Level 2 Economics, but our discussion came in response to a really interesting and perceptive student question about interest rates.

I described the three determinants of the demand for money as theorised by J M Keynes: transactions demand, precautionary demand, and speculative demand, and we pondered possible changes to the transactions demand amongst Christchurch residents.

I related my own experience post 22 February 2011. At that time we were in the habit of carrying very little cash in our wallets, being more used to using cards to either purchase on credit or draw down on demand deposits using those same cards. In those dreadful days immediately following 22 February power outages meant that access to demand deposits was effectively cut off as ATMs and credit card terminals were not operational, and so we found it difficult to make purchases because we had little cash.

We would expect the transactions demand for money to increase in the weeks and months immediately after 22 February, and we speculated on whether t there was at ‘legacy behaviour’ amongst Christchurch residents. We wondered whether Christchurch residents still maintained larger cash balances in their wallets now than they might have done prior to 22 February. I suspect that many Christchurch residents are experiencing relatively unusual post earthquake behaviours/habits. For example I feel anxiety when separated from my cellphone, and hate to see my car fuel tank drop below half full. It is always filled when I go to the service station.

On the subject of the transactions demand for money, I tend to carry a little more cash on me than I would have done prior to 22 February 2011. Were we able to measure changes in the transactions demand, would we find a regional variation in Christchurch? Worth pondering!!!