Discussion forums are typically facilitated in a Learning Management System (LMS), like Moodle, and offer students and faculty an opportunity to hold asynchronous threaded or blog-like discussions. Traditionally forums have been text-based, but posting audio and video files is also an option. Because the forum activity is part of the LMS they can be incorporated into the online gradebook for integrated grading.

Forums Types

Open Class Discussion
Guided Discussion
Post and Reply to Two
Assignment Post
Peer Review
Reply to an instructor designed question
Blog Like Discussion
Text-based posts
Video or audio posts (PoodLL)
Other

Interaction Guidelines

Consider including Interaction guidelines in your syllabus. These guidelines can help students to understand your expectations about how to treat you and their peers, ask genuine questions, and hold space for things they disagree with or don't understand.

Example Interaction Guidelines

It is expected that in this course, we will all work to create a spirit of respect, curiosity, and dialogue, partly by following the guidelines below. The extent to which you demonstrate the capacity for this in your interaction in class discussions, forums and other course-related contact with instructor and students will be reflected in your grade. By your enrollment in this course, you agree to follow these guidelines for interaction with instructors and other students:

Presume welcome and extend welcome—in informal interaction, in small group discussion, and in large group interaction.
Refrain from fixing, saving, or setting straight others in the class.
Avoid making your experience normative for others.
When the interaction gets tricky, turn to inquiry rather than advocacy (wonder about something instead of defending something). Pay attention to the distinction between dialogue (which begins with a question) and debate (which begins with an answer).
Make sure your questions are real questions, not ones intended to make a point, demonstrate prior knowledge, or communicate a hidden agenda.
Observe confidentiality, especially regarding material shared by other students.

Forum Guidelines and Grading Criteria Examples

Forum Type: Post and Reply to Two

A portion of your interaction with colleagues throughout this program will take place through the online class discussions assigned each week. For each forum activity, create one post in response to the directions for that particular forum, and then reply substantively to the posts of at least two other students from your discussion group. Unless otherwise indicated:

Your initial post should be no less than 350 and no more than 500 words.
Your initial post should be made in the text box, and not as an attachment.
Your substantive replies can be of any length, but they should contain…

An understanding of at least a portion of the original post (perhaps paraphrased)
An expansion of the discussion (additional commentary, research, or a personal experience that illustrates the idea and gives it forward motion)
A logical way for others to join the conversation (open-ended enough that it does not stop the discussion)

The two required substantive responses must be to posts outside of the thread you started, and can be either to an initial post or to another substantive reply.
As a courtesy, you are encouraged to reply to anyone who responds to your initial post. However, these replies do not count toward your two required responses.
You may use conversational language, but pay attention to your grammar, sentence structure, and spelling.
There are no formatting (i.e., double-spacing, title page, font, etc.) requirements for your post.
There are no outside sources required for your post. However, you should properly cite ideas that are not your own.
Because of the interactive nature of these assignments, late posts will receive no credit.

Grading Criteria: Forum

Fully addresses the question/issue, including all required content – 3 points
Clear essay structure, logical and clear flow of ideas – 3 points
High-quality mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) – 1 points
Meets required length – 1 points
Follow-up posts follow criteria – 2 points

Total: 10 points for each assignment

Forum Type: Peer Review

Post your updated alignment form to a forum.

For only one colleague, please provide at least one recommendation for improvement and also comment on:

the alignment (or lack of alignment) between the problem, purpose, research questions and hypotheses/propositions.
whether the colleague provided sufficient support from the literature for their problem and purpose for the study.
the conceptual framework/theory section in terms of whether this aligns with the proposed problem.
the research design and overall methodology proposed (e.g., sampling, participants).

Grading Criteria: Forum

Fully addresses the question/issue, including all required content – 3 points
Clear essay structure, logical and clear flow of ideas – 3 points
High-quality mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) – 1 points
Meets required length – 1 points
Follow-up posts follow criteria – 2 points

Total: 10 points for each assignment

Forum Due Dates

Forums that require students to respond to one another benefit from having two designated due dates: one for the initial post, and one for the replies. Outlining and communicating a regular course rhythm or structure helps students to organize their studies.

In-person or Online Synchronous Course Example

Before the first class session of the week…

This section must be completed first, prior to the week's first class session.
This includes initial forum posts (but not reply posts), practice quizzes, initial interactions in collaborative activities, and other informal work to be built upon later in the module.

Before the second class session of the week…

This section must be completed prior to the week's second class session.
This includes replies to forum posts, final interactions in collaborative activities, and final module activities.

Fully Online Course Example

Begin the module…

This section begins on Monday.

This section must be completed first, prior to submitting any work.

Participate in the module…

This section must be completed mid-module, by Thursday at 11:55PM.
This includes initial forum posts (but not reply posts), practice quizzes, initial interactions in collaborative activities, and other informal work to be built upon later in the module.

Complete the module and look ahead…

This section must be completed by end-of-module, Sunday at 11:55PM.
This includes replies to forum posts, final interactions in collaborative activities, and final module activities.

Forum Prompts

When writing forum prompts phrase them as questions for students to respond to. Ask questions that promote discussion. Avoid prompts to which there is a correct answer. When writing prompts include "hooks" for help students know how to reply to one another. These "hooks" can often help deepen the discussion. To foster community and engagement, encourage students to reply to those who reply to their posts.

Initial Prompt Suggestions

Engage students in topics for which there are differing viewpoints within the field of study (create a prompt that requires students to wrestle with those differences).
Draw on students' personal and/or work experience explore and apply course concepts.
Organize a debate.
Ask students to share research on a topic and discuss it.
Organize an opportunity for peer-review (include specific criteria for the review).
Ask students to lead a discussion, rotating leaders each week (give them instructions on what it means to lead a discussion in your course).

Reply Post Prompt Suggestions

In your response to your colleagues, discuss whether you agree or disagree with their analysis.
In your response to your peers, find points of commonality or differences in your own experience and share an example.
In your response to your classmates, choose someone who expressed a different opinion than your own. Identify any points that your classmate made with which you agree and explain your position, or explain why you disagree.
In response to your colleagues, describe which of their points resonated with you the most. How will the arguments of your colleagues shape your own practice?
In your reply to your colleagues, share any personal or professional experience you have with this topic and provide a viewpoint on the issue that was not addressed in the original discussion, using course material to support your viewpoint.
In response to others, consider asking questions about your peers' answers and note details that might encourage additional thinking.
In your reply to your classmates, compare and contrast the responses of others with the response you provided to the initial post, discussing why you think there are similarities or differences between responses.
In reply to your peers, attempt to answer the questions they posed. Support your answers with content from the course.

Forum Prompt Examples

Forum: Ethical Healthcare Dilemma

After engaging in the resources for this week, think of an ethical healthcare dilemma. This could be a dilemma from your work or clinical experiences, something from your personal life or family, or an experience you know about from the media. Briefly describe how this experience qualifies as an ethical dilemma (this should be less than ⅓ of your post). Remember to maintain HIPAA regulations by maintaining patient confidentiality. Then, choose two different ethical theories, approaches, or principles from your readings. Discuss the ethical dilemma in light of these two theories. Discussion should include but not be limited to:

Who are the stakeholders in the dilemma?
How do the stakeholders’ viewpoints differ depending on the ethical theory?
What do you believe would be the best way to resolve the dilemma based on each ethical theory?

In your response to your colleagues, discuss and explain whether you agree or disagree with their analysis of the dilemma based on the theories they selected. Make sure to reply to others that chose at least one different theory than you did.

Forum: Ethical Issues

After signing up for an ethical issue in the area of reproductive, infant, child or adolescent ethical issues in Week 2, you will discuss your ethical issue in your initial forum post.

Your initial post should include:

a summary of the ethical issue selected
at least two opposing viewpoints on the issue using at least one different ethical theory to support each viewpoint
an example of the issue from the media - or - a historical case related to the topic
a discussion of how this issue is relevant to the field nursing
at least three resources that your classmates can use for further reading (in APA format)

You are encouraged to read all of the ethical issue posts, but you must reply to at least two. In your reply to your colleagues, share any personal or professional experience you have with this topic and provide a viewpoint on the issue that was not addressed in the original discussion, using at least one ethical theory to support the viewpoint.

Forum: Global Business Today

In your initial post address the following:

What experience, if any, have you had with international business or overseas members of your company?
If none, where have you purchased products from overseas and how did global business impact that process?
What cultural and geographic barriers have impacted this?

In your response to others, consider asking questions about your peers' answers and note details that might encourage additional thinking. You might also consider comparing and contrasting the responses of others with the response you provided, discussing why you think there are similarities or differences between responses.

Forum: Reflecting on Stage II of the Personal Learning Project (Small Group)

In this forum, you will discuss how we approach learning new skills and how we maintain the motivation to persist through the learning curve. Use the following list of guiding questions to post your first response.

What level of autonomy do you need in order to learn a new task?
Was your first approach to this new task successful or did you have to back up and try different approaches?
How are you scaffolding your learning experience?
If you weren’t learning this new skill for a class, would you feel motivated to persist toward your expected level of mastery?
How might students feel when they are expected to learn a new task through a prescribed set of directions that is incompatible with their learning preferences?

In your response to others complete the following:

Ask questions related to how they will integrate what they have learned to their classroom
If a peer asks a question about your post, be sure to answer it.

Instructor Engagement

Instructor Engagement in forum discussions can take various forms. One way to characterize approaches is with the roles of "ghost," "guide" or "guardian." The art of facilitating discussion forums is to find a good balance of the three that allows you to provide timely feedback.

Instructor Engagement Suggestions

Options for engagement:

Read and respond to student posts "live" during the time that students are required to post. This approach allows you to keep track of where students are at with the course material, and/or to redirect or correct any mistaken or problematic material, to point students to other threads that they might benefit from.
- Bonus: this approach fosters community.
- Drawback: depending on the instructor interaction it has the potential to limit student interaction as they wait to hear from the instructor.
Read or skim student pots "live" during the time that students are required to post, responding only as needed to incorrect or problematic information, keeping track of themes and items to address after the forum closes. Then write or record a summary of the discussion and post it as an announcement in the LMS (Moodle). It can work well to incorporate this into a weekly intro/overview announcement.
- Bonus: students feel the freedom to "own" the discussion.
- Drawback: there might be a loss of student-to-instructor community. (recording a video summary can help mitigate this.)

General suggestions

Remind students to be encouraging to one another, even on challenging or heated topics, while also inviting them to analyze and debate.
Connect personally with students to thank them for their contributions or to encourage them to contribute in a different way.
Point out interesting contributions and good work.
Provide prompt feedback. This is especially true in courses that use forums regularly, since feedback can help students to improve their posts from week-to-week.

Forum Grading

Forum grading can be complex and time-consuming, but with a good plan it can be manageable.
These tutorials offer grading options. Additionally, Bethel's Instructional Technologist is available for consultation.
Try to avoid giving points just for showing up in a discussion.
Consider giving points for posts that make meaningful contributions to the conversation and student learning.

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