Missing the point
I have found that there is at least one student in every class (and often more than one) who will post all 3 of their required posts within a 10 minute time slot. This defeats the purpose of a 'discussion'. I've dubbed them the 'post and run' students. Since the school doesn't allow me to implement a rule of spreading the posts out, how do you encourage the students to return and read the replies?
Sean,
Unfortunately this is a general problem in all education not just online. Many of my traditional students just want to do the minimum and are quick to ask for a rubric or very clear outline of an open-ended assignment so they can determine what level and depth of work they want to put in the assignment (many times the minimum).
Herbert Brown III
This is a great notion but the problem is that students don't read through the thread. They only reply to the last post. Even with the posts I make the students don't even read. Not saying that all classes are like this but some are. They just want to do the minimum and be done with it.
Also, another way that can be used is to require an original post be done on a certain day. Then, have the other posts done later in the week. This seems to work quite well, and encouraging varying ideas in the orig. posting.
It can be hard to encourage students to be engaged in the discussion boards if they are really not interested. I make an effort to make discussion posts relevant and applicable to the students. Sometimes referencing real-life examples, providing links to other websites or videos can spark interest.
In order for my students to receive full credit for their forum postings they must post and comment on every topic. it helps some what, but I still get the students that do the minimum required.
To encourage students to participate effectively in discussions I send out an email on day one regarding discussion posts explaining the purpose of the discussions and giving examples of how to reply to a classmate's post. I suggest that posts would be more effective for the whole class if they make their initial post Monday - Wednesday and to make the two additional posts from Thursday to Sunday. Explaining that by doing this it gives every student a chance to make a post and will give them an opportunity to read classmates posts and learn more about the subject being discussed. I let them know that I will make an initial post each week and that they should take a minute to read my post because it will help them feel confident they are going in the right direction for the discussion. I also tell them that I will provide websites in my posts that they can use to look for information on the topic. This method works well for me because I get pretty good participation in our discussions and most of my students follow my suggestion to spread out the posts.
The discussion has to have a purpose, objective, and an end point. If the requirement is a single post, busy people will meet the requirement and move on. If the requirement is a discussion, then perhaps an activity that requires more than "post and run" is necessary. If the posting is evaluated (quality, frequency) then you have a means to leverage more or better interaction. A small group exercise may be useful
I too have run across this problem on a regular basis. I have done exactly what was suggested, contact the student. I have found this to be successful about 70% of the time. Unfortunately, the other 30% or so of the time the students listen, seems to understand but make no change. I then contact the student's adviser to make them aware. I find for some reason, some students are more receptive if they hear the message from the adviser as well as myself that "post and run" only hurts them in the long run. I think being aware of the "post and run" student is the first step followed with some form of action. Thank you for assuring me that this problem is more widespread. I will continue to work with these students.
I echo your frustration, Melissa! I have some students that "post and run" in my online courses as well. I try to stagger my due dates: their first post is due Tuesday, and their response post is due Thursday, but I still get students that do a bare-bones response, posted quickly, and you can tell they do not revisit the forum again. I try to encourage all my students to respond to each other's posts so that students are enticed to return to the forum to see what others have to say about their post. But mostly, I think many students see discussions as a complete time suck, something that takes away from the course. They want to hear what I have to say in the lectures, not what their fellow students have to say! Trying to teaching the fact that learning is community-generated is really hard.
I guess you could include in your grading rubric something that addresses these "post and run" students. Criteria along the lines of: "Does your response post include an adequate time frame to reflect on others' posts, and does it engage in true discussion?" (Then of course you would have to define "true discussion"!) Do you think that might work?
Thanks for the suggestions. I am not allowed to reduce the grade if they don't come back. That's what makes this so hard. I like the idea of contacting the student outside of the discussion to see about generating interest that way.
Melissa
Unfortunately I can't reduce the grade if they fail to respond as long as they met the required number of responses. I encourage them to come back and I try to entice them back.
Melissa
Melissa,
If you can't implement a policy related to this it will be harder. You can try to contact the student directly and explain the reason behind the need to spread out the posts for discussions. You can also go back to their posts and respond with a question that makes them come back and respond to your response (and reduce the grade if they don't respond back to you if allowed).
Herbert Brown III
