Jazz Up Your Discussion Prompts
Overview
When a course is pre-designed, it is hard for instructors to know which discussion prompts are most likely to engage our students and bring about deep inquiry, critical thinking or reflection? With this in mind, what can you do "jazz-up" your prompts?
- Reframe the Question
If a prompt feels like it lacks relevance - or is unlikely to help students probe deeper, consider reframing the question. For some ideas, take a look at the "Socratic Questioning Prompts" included in Teaching critical thinking through online discussions*.
2. Revise Discussion Prompts To Promote Inquiry
Here are some examples of prompts that have been jazzed-up to encouraging more interaction and thoughtful reflection.
Example 1
Initial:
Read the UCLA Internet Report: Surveying the Digital Future, Year Three and comment on the findings.
Revised Prompt:
As you comment on the UCLA Internet Report: Surveying the Digital Future, Year Three in the week's discussion, align the findings in the 2003 report with your observations. Scroll through the entire UCLA report, not just a few select topics. UCLA's year three 2003 report is available online as a PDF.
Some possible areas to include in your discussion are:
Are you surprised by any of the findings?
What are your concerns about this medium?
What have you done about your concerns?
Do you think high-speed access is a variable in the amount of time you spend online?
Example 2
Initial:
Define andragogy and incorporate three adult learning theories in your response.
Revised Prompt:
Navigate the Instructional Design Learning Theories web page at InstructionalDesign.org.
Which three theories on this site do you think are most applicable to andragogy?
Identify any theories at odds with the theory of andragogy? Which theories appeal to you?
Which theories could you apply to your life and how do they apply?
Example 3
Initial:
Post a draft of your paper to the Discussion board.
Revised Prompt:
Break into the following groups:
Group A: Liz, Geri, Joe
Group B: Jan, John, Jake
Group C: Cindy, Cal, Bob
Then, post a draft of your paper to your group. Review each group member's assignment and add suggestions for content, organization, and grammar.
While you may have some things to consider before jazzing up any of your discussion questions, it is always good to practice techniques for providing student feedback that encourages the student to expand on a posted discussion message or engages learner-learner interaction.
A Note on Alignment
A Final Note: Whenever you "jazz up" the standard discussion questions, make sure they align with the learning outcomes for the module or course. When in doubt, check with your faculty department head.
Citations
MacKnight, C.K. (2000). EDUCAUSE Quarterly (4)38-41 (PDF). https://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0048.pdf