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[kzoojen]

First time teaching online for me and while I've got some tried and true tactics for getting students involved face to face, those are failing me here.

The participation in message boards is part of their grade, but participation is still not where I'd like it to be. I've tried asking direct questions, have sent out email reminders...am now looking into setting up a facebook group for the course (hoping they're on facebook and hoping they'll reply to that email at the very least) as a way to get them more involved in reading ad hoc articles or participating.

Any suggestions from folks who've had success here?

[zharkov]

Participation in online discussions is part of the grade, right? Just break the total points into weekly amounts, and post grades each week for participation.  Some students don't think we count participation or -- as one put it after losing 5 or 10 points by midterm -- "not really serious" about the online participation.   Guess what?  I am. 

[giacomo]

I have two deadlines for each discussion, first a deadline for the first post where the student answers the question and then a deadline for at least two responses to other students' posts. This leads to students not waiting until the last minute to post all three posts. I also set up the discussion so that students cannot see other students' posts until after they post their post. This prevents them from just repeating what others have written.

[kzoojen]

Z- I've just put your suggestion into works!

Gia-How do you set that (no posting till posts are responded to?) I'm new to blackboard!

Thanks!!

[larryc]

I have sometimes posted interim participation grades, giving everyone about a grade or three  lower than their quiz average so far. Gets their attention it does.

[polly_mer]

Gia-How do you set that (no posting till posts are responded to?) I'm new to blackboard!

Off the top of my head:

One possibility is to force moderation by having students send you their posts.  Upon receipt of the post, you then send students the password for the discussion board to see the other posts.

Another possibility is to make students send you their posts and keep the discussion board unavailable to students until the deadline for posting the first post has passed.  Then, you make the discussion board available to all students.

[caesura]

There's a learning curve for online students at the beginning of the course--both learning about how to participate in discussion and about how serious you are about it.  So if you're in the first week or two of class, don't fret about spotty participation.  As others have said, grade it and they will (at least to some extent) perform.  But they need to get discussion grades frequently--just giving one participation grade at the end won't work.

You are posting discussion questions to get the ball rolling, aren't you?  Without them, students are likely to be at a loss for what to discuss.  If you want to transfer the responsibility for discussion to them, you can have every student (alone or in groups) take responsibility for posing the discussion questions on one topic/article/whathaveyou.

In general, online courses need a lot of structure--very clear guidelines of what to do when and how.  

[giacomo]

Gia-How do you set that (no posting till posts are responded to?) I'm new to blackboard!

Thanks!!

There is a discussion setting that does this in ANGEL. Ask your Blackboard technical person if it can be done in Blackboard.

[whipkitty]

I provide a rubric that describes what work is necessary to receive full credit, half credit, or no credit out of  ten points.  I tell students that lack of substantive comments may result in a loss of 2 pts from their weekly score.  Of course, I tell them what I consider a substantive comment to eliminate "me too" comments.

[blackadder]

For undergrads I have a very explicit rubric for discussions and instructions on the questions to answer and number and type of response. Spontaneous discussion seems to be all but impossible for them, except for the student who wishes to argue with me about a couple of points on which I am correct but insists that "in a way" she is too (no...you are dead wrong...wrong wrong wrong.)

Points are deducted for posting so late no one can respond. And woe to the one who waits until the last minute and everyone else has done their posts! They have to email and beg someone in their group to come back to do extra work cuz I ain't doing it for them! This only happens in the 1st discussion of the course. :)

Graduates don't seem to need quite as much pushing but I do use a rubric and guidelines so they know what to discuss. Force responses isn't necessary 99% of the time.

[queenofstarwars]

Graduates don't seem to need quite as much pushing but I do use a rubric and guidelines so they know what to discuss. Force responses isn't necessary 99% of the time.

I couldn't agree more.  I've taught a number of graduate courses and have had no issue with participation in discussions.

I introduced them to my freshman course this semester for the first time, and it's a disaster.

[proftowanda]

Graduates don't seem to need quite as much pushing but I do use a rubric and guidelines so they know what to discuss. Force responses isn't necessary 99% of the time.

I couldn't agree more.  I've taught a number of graduate courses and have had no issue with participation in discussions.

I introduced them to my freshman course this semester for the first time, and it's a disaster.

Agreed.  As I have evolved in online teaching, I have found need to be incredibly explicit in guidelines and rubric for online discussion.  I'm not always there, as in the classroom, to stop a student and ask for the specifics that now are detailed in my online syllabus.

For the second post for each unit, the response to another student's first post (btw, those first posts are in response to my prompts/questions for readings), I now have had to specify that students are to select and restate at least two points made in the classmate's post and respond to those with new material (not from their first posts) from the readings.  Otherwise, I get the "me, too" and rehash responses, so wearying.

Well, actually, OP, I still get the "me, too" and rehash responses, of course, from the weak students.  So they get no points.  Then, they improve in the next unit -- or not.  Their call.  My guidelines now have become so explicit for participation that I brook no excuses . . . because, from the start, even before the start of the online course, I have a quiz on the syllabus that covers this portion quite explicitly as well, to ensure that they actually have read the guidelines and other expectations.  Plus, they sign a contract that they have done so.

I SO thank the fora for moving me toward those steps and others.  More -- certainly, not all, but more -- students did better work.  And the whining went 'WAY down.  Again, though, the whining did not disappear, just as greatly improved participation did not magically appear in all cases.  It never will, with the students that I have, as we say.  But I know that I am doing all that I can, and that students know how to do so, too.   

[infopri]

I provide very clear instructions to my master's-degree students in the syllabus and in the first lecture of the semester.  I don't provide a rubric, but they know that participation in the discussions counts toward their final course grade.  I forbid posts that are essentially "me too" posts.  Every post has to move the discussion forward, and is graded accordingly.

My experience is that about a third of the class dominates the discussions, simply because they are interested in the material and are well-prepared to discuss it in a meaningful way.  About half the class participates in the discussion at an acceptable but unimpressive level, and a handful say very little, or say a lot of nothing (useless posts, "me too" or "I disagree" without any elaboration, etc.),  or don't participate at all.  All in all, their performance doesn't seem all that different from that of a face-to-face class.

However, I do start with provocative prompts, and--in spite of the conventional wisdom handed to me when I first started teaching online--I participate (very lightly) in the discussions.  If someone raises a good point or presents a good analysis, I complement him or her.  If someone says something inaccurate that might mislead the rest of the class, I gently clarify (read: correct) what he or she said.  If someone asks a question, I answer it.  If someone says something surprising or unclear, I ask questions.  This involvement has worked very well, eliciting much more--and better--participation than when I followed the advice to stay out of the discussions altogether.  (The given rationale was that, if the instructor says something in an online discussion, it will inhibit any further student posts on that thread.  That has not been my experience, but it's important for the instructor to end his or her post with another provocative prompt.)