Executive Summary of Results

Graduate students were able to: a) manifest critical thinking; b) share ideas with a community of professionals/peers; and c) promote collaborative problem solving and inquiry among classmates through the use of the Online Discussion Forum in Oncourse, where they posted and responded for asynchronous dialog, discussion, and debate about issues/problems concerning psychology in teaching.

Need for the Project

No teacher is an island. The best teachers are those whose thinking skills are fully developed by working together with colleagues in the profession as well as other professionals in the community. Teachers should have the critical thinking skills and collaborative learning attitude to confront issues/problem in the teaching profession.

Indiana University Southeast School of Education focuses its academic program on educators engaged in growth, where the learning activities in each class engage students in inquiry and problem solving, typically in a collaborative learning community framework. In a graduate class of mere 2.5 hours per week, Instructors try their best to carry on a meaningful discussion with a group of 25 students. This is in addition to presentations which are necessary to help students acquire knowledge base information. However, despite this effort, a study by Nunn (1996) says that there is predominance of non-interactive, lecture based instruction in university classrooms. Braxton el al. (1996) also provides data indicating that student discussion average only about 2% of class time, and contributions by students tended to be in response to the teacher questions.

Of course, faculty can assign collaborative inquiry tasks to be completed outside of class time (or even during class time). However, it is difficult in the classroom, and impossible outside of the classroom, to monitor (and hence mentor) collaborative discussion and critical thinking when it occurs in small group meetings. Without this ability, only the final product of inquiry can be reviewed.

It is in this context that the researcher sees the potential benefits of Indiana University Southeast’s Oncourse asynchronous conferencing tool. This tool provides a forum in which discussion can occur outside the classroom while allowing the instructor to: a) observe students’ contributions to the discussion; b) include transcripts of the discussions in a portfolio for feedback or assessment of critical thinking and collaborative learning; c) participate in the discussion as a way to model critical thinking skills; d) interject questions and comments in order to coach critical thinking; and e) provide expertise in a topic area when such input is required (Sloffer et al., 1999).

Use of Technology

With the advent of online chat rooms, instant messaging, and discussion for a available on the Internet; I foresee the trend of using the same kind of communication or dialogue in many school systems. Oncourse Asynchronous Discussion Forum works as a tool for the instructor to provide students with asynchronous discussion fora which pursue topics in depth and maintain records of those discussions. The procedure starts with the instructor setting the format with the use of Oncourse Discussion Forum Editor. Then students can start posting messages by logging into Oncourse Discussion Forum from the “In Touch” page. After selecting a forum set-up by the instructor, student can start typing their messages in the “Message” field and the title of their message in the “Subject” field. To post a message, students click “Send” and if they do not want to post the message, they can click “Cancel”. To reply to an existing message, students view the message to which they would like to reply. In the “Message” field, they type their reply and click “Send”. Students can also add attachments, create links, and set-up daily notifications at another email address for unread Discussion Forum postings from their classmates ( source: Oncourse Instructor’s Guide).

Instructional Design Plan

• What student learning outcomes were expected?

 After participating in the Online Discussion Forum of P510 Oncourse, graduate students were expected to :

• analyze problems and issues concerning psychology in teaching;
• share problems and issues with a community of professionals/peers; and
• promote collaborative problem solving and inquiry among graduate students.

• How did my teaching plan encourage active learning, provide feedback, address respective learning styles, and build collaboration?

 To encourage active learning, provide feedback, address respective learning styles and build collaboration; graduate students participated in three asynchronous online discussion fora using P510 Oncourse discussion forum. Each forum was on a 3-week cycle of sharing and response.  Topics came from the pool of issues/problems confronting Psychology in Teaching suggested by the class.

Last fall 2005 semester, topics for the fora were:

1. How does the teacher deal with different types of learners? 
2.  How to motivate children effectively?
3.  What are specific ways parents and teachers can work together?

The class was divided into two groups (Groups A as the moderators and B as the respondents).
In the first week of the cycle, group A members were responsible for posting the details of the issue/problem concerning psychology in teaching. And to specifically address and accommodate students’ learning styles, students were allowed to select on how they want to post their opening statement based on the following choices:

• Explain a realistic case, scenario, issue or problem concerning psychology in teaching.
• Establish and defend a position on a controversial issue related to course concepts.
• Make a connection between course content and current news or events in the community.
• Share a new resource that you discovered as you were surfing the web, reading a book or a journal article.

In the week two of the cycle, each group B member was responsible for replying to the issue(s) presented by group A. The purpose of students’ reaction and feedback was either to:

• further discussion and encourage additional exploration of the topic presented in the original post; or
• offer potential solutions to the target issue or problem  (these solutions could come from your own teaching experiences and/or psychology in teaching concepts, principles and theories).

Again, to encourage active learning, address respective learning styles and build collaboration; to students were offered the following techniques which had been helpful for them to respond:

• Ask  questions about the original post to encourage details and clarity.
• Offer a dissenting opinion or different perspective from the one expressed in the original contribution.
• Note similarities between classmates and one’s own opinions, perspectives, and experiences.
• Describe a method for testing the idea.
• Design an innovative lesson based on the idea discussed in the contribution.
• Offer additional resources that add more information to the original post. (For example, a student might have found: 1) a web page that discusses the topic being addressed and share the URL with the class; 2) a book; 3) a research article; etc.)

In the third week of the cycle, members from Groups A and B were responsible for additional contributions to a discussion thread. Students added additional ideas to a thread in which they had already participated, and some also expanded their responses to other threads that contained different problems. Regardless of which thread they responded, their responsibility was to reply to a discussion contribution from week two. Week three contributions served as the summary/conclusion of the discussion forum. The sample approaches given to stimulate students’ participation during week three were:

• Pick two replies to the same problem and discuss why you think one would work better than the other.
• Pick a reply to a problem and discuss the strengths and/or weaknesses of the proposed solution.
• Pick a theory that someone wrote about during week #2 and apply that theory differently (or more thoroughly) to the problem offered during week #1.
• Describe innovative exercises, assignments, or activities based on the ideas in the week #2 contribution.
• Discuss your experiences with how a solution has/has not worked in the classroom.
• Write a summary of replies to your problem and describe the biggest insights that you have gained by considering the advice of your classmates.

Two types of feedback were given to students throughout the activity. First was the explicit and concrete feedback I gave as their instructor. I graded each message within 24 hours of posting and sent an email notification to explain to students how s/he earned the points, and how s/he could get additional points if s/he did not received the highest possible points. Also, students were motivate to continue responding even though they have already received the maximum points. Second type of feedback came from students themselves. As they responded to each other’s messages, they were able to see how fellow classmates reacted to their views.

• What resources were used?

 During planning and implementation of this project, I have asked support from the Institute for Learning and Teaching Excellence (ILTE) in my campus. I have attended workshops on using Oncourse and met with ILTE personnel for guidance in technology use, as well as for the purchase and use of a wireless laptop. The campus Information Technology personnel, specifically the Help Desk consultants, were of great help in terms of answering questions from students about off-campus access of Oncourse.

• Would my project be easily understood and executed by other faculty?

The availability of Oncourse as a web-based learning tool to IUS faculty and students makes this project easy to be understood and executed by other faculty. Oncourse has a self-help instruction in terms of how to use the online discussion forum. Furthermore, self-study materials are available to faculty online in http://www.indiana.edu/~ittedev/oncourse/workshops_materials/ONCLBv2.1.1_book.pdf. Anyone who is familiar with virtual communication through electronic mail, can grasp the concept of how online discussion forum works.

Potential to Impact Student Learning

• Fostered depth of learning

The project catered to graduate students who are teachers by profession.  Teacher beliefs affect teaching effectiveness. Beliefs are like possessions embedded in the person’s personal system.  In graduate school, the depth of learning happens when students’ beliefs have evolved for the better. However, beliefs evolve and change not so easily. It is through social interaction where individuals realize the many perspectives of issues surrounding them. It is through listening and dialogue where students learn to be less egocentric, more altruistic and morally obligated to become a better citizen in the society. Figure 1 illustrates the complexity of social influences on the individual’s belief system. This implies that depth of learning relies much on the social nature of the classroom experience. It is therefore my contention that this project has addressed this aspect of deep learning.

Figure 1. An Illustration of potential social influences on the learner, highlighting the idea that the social influencers themselves are part of an intricate systemic web. Source: Schommer-Aikins, M. (Winter 2004). Explaining the epistemological belief system: Introducing embedded systemic model and coordinated research approach. Educational Psychologist.

 Below are examples of what students talked about in the fora.

1. Personal teaching experiences

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 10/27/2005 6:20:41 PM
Subject: How to motivate children effectively
I agree totally with most of those that have posted messages so far:  we need to get to know our students!  Nonetheless, we need to do more.  We need to be positive, smiley, loving people even when we don't feel like it!  I teach in a middle school behavior disorder classroom and most of my students are unmotivated.  They come from terrible home situations and many of them have lived through more at 12 years old than we as adults could ever get through.  They are resilient, but they are beat down and tired.  They don't understand that education is a way to better themselves... they just feel like it is more stress in their lives.  They need us to be their rocks... even when they are unmotivated or acting crazy.  We need to show them that we will be there for them every day, no matter what... with hugs and smiles and praise for the smallest acts of appropriate behaviors.  This year I started out the year with a 6th grader who cussed me out every time I asked him to do anything. (Example: "Please sit down" His response: "F#@# you") I really didn't think I was going to make it a whole year with this child, but I pressed on.  Every morning I would give him a big hug and say, "I know we are going to have a great day today."  We made it the first 3 weeks of school with NO good days, but I didn't give up.  Finally he began to trust me and he told me that he had never been in a regular classroom and that was all he wanted.  He wanted to be with the "normal" kids.  So, we cut a deal... he needed 4 weeks of nearly perfect behavior towards peers and staff and all A's and B's to be able to go out for 1 regular class.  Guess what... he got to go to a regular 6th grade math class this week and his behavior has been spectacular!  (Can you tell how proud I am?!)

2. Research results

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 9/22/2005 7:08:15 PM
Subject: School Diversity
There is a research study related to this topic. I encourage you to read it. The results are very insightful. I encoded the abstract of this research.
TITLE: Family Factors Related to Children's Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivational Orientation and Academic Performance
AUTHORS: Ginsburg, Golda S., and Bronstein, Phyllis
DATE: October 1993
PUBLICATION: Child Development
QUOTED FROM AUTHOR:  
"This study examined three familial factors-parental surveillance of homework, parental reactions to grades, and general family style-in relation to children's motivational orientation and academic performance.  Family, parent, and child measures were obtained in the home from 93 fifth graders and their parents.  Teachers provided a measure of classroom motivational orientation, and grades and achievement scores were obtained from school records.  Higher parental surveillance of homework, parental reactions to grades that included negative control, uninvolvement, or extrinisic reward, and over- and undercontrolling family styles were found to be related to an extrinsic motivational orientation and to lower academic performance.  On the other hand, parental encouragement in response to grades children received was associated with an intrinsic motivational orientation, and autonomy-supporting family styles were associated with intrinsic motivation and higher academic performance.  In addition, socioeconomic level was a significant predictor of motivational orientation and academic performance."

3. Current events

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 9/22/2005 5:01:59 PM
Subject: Reaching different learners
How does a teacher deal with different types of learners?  This is a question that many teachers ask.  There are many different types of learners.  You have Dr. Gardner's eight different intelligences: interpersonal, intrapersonal, mathematical/logical, visual, naturalistic, bodiy/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmical, and auditory (see http:www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm ) Teachers also have to deal with students that are at different levels of readiness.

Current legislation, such as "No Child Left Behind" has mandated that teachers are held more accountable to ensure that all students must perform at mastery level, regardless of their different backgrounds.

While "No Child Left Behind" is a lofty goal to achieve, educating children with severe educational deficiencies to a level of master seems an improbable task.

How do you reach the apathetic learner when you don;t know what their learning preference is?  Here is an example: Apathetic Alex always sleeps with his down in class.  When you wake him up, he doesn't care about being in school and says that nothing you can do will keep him interested.  His responses are inappropriate and insubordinate.  What does a teacher do?

4. Write-up or article

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 6/6/2005 10:59:28 PM
Subject: Teaching to the Test....
This question drives me CRAZY.  I understand that this is an issue in our educational system.  Unfortunately, there are educators who simply drill students on basic skills and computations to get them through to the next level. This type of teacher is not going to help students be successful on too many test anyways, much less the CATS test!!  
    In Jefferson County teachers have a Core Content filled with numerous standards for every subject area.  Our Core Content was developed from Kentucky's state standards and National Norm-Based tests. Teachers use the core content as a resource to create, modify, and implement lessons to their students.  Our students are then assessed by the State of Kentucky (CATS) which is based on the standards Kentucky's teachers are instructed to teach.  
    From where I stand, it seems that instruction and assessment are and should be connected.  Teachers are expected to engage students in a variety of ways.  Beyond mastery of the content lies numerous other standards and expectations, students and teachers alike, are held to.  
    I included a link to the Carnegie Foundation.  There is an article that explores the discussion we have been having on this topic.  The following quote sums up my thoughts on this topic ... I think it makes a strong summative point -just in case you don't have time to check out the entire article. 
     
"There is a lesson here for teachers and assessment specialists alike. The tension between the instructional and assessment communities, as well the pejorative connotations that "teaching to the test" entails, will continue unabated so long as testing and assessment are seen as something quite apart from instruction and learning, rather than an integrated reflection of what was intentionally taught."  

www.carnegiefoundation.org/perspectives/perspectives2004.Apr.htm

5. Websites

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 2/1/2005 9:15:59 PM
Subject: RE: RE: Multiple Intelligences
In J500, I have done the research to back up the music portion of incorporating it into a math class, I just have not had the time to find the songs in an instrumental version, so that I may try to implement them into my math classes.  

Here is the website that I found where DR. Lesser includes mathematics into his daily math routines http://www.math.utep.edu/Faculty/lesser/Mathemusician.html

6. Personal learning experiences

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 10/30/2005 4:52:44 PM
Subject: RE: On-line discussion - How to motivate children effectively    
I agree that it is important to get to know your students.  Lessons and assignments are more interesting to the student when they connect to their own life.  You can also set up a reward plan for the student that is specific to them when you know their likes and dislikes.  I also agree that having a postive enviorment in your class can help motivate a child.  However, these alone are not always enough.  In the case of Shantay, it sound like he is getting at the age that he is becoming aware of the problems in his family life.  He may be realizing how is life is different from others in the class. I am guessing is feeling abandoned by his mother.  These are all major issues for a fourth grader to deal with.  I think that as a teacher in a case like this you have to look outside the classroom for help. I would refer the student to the school counselor to help him work through his feeling about his family.  I would also refer the student and his grandmother to my school's family resource center.  The center can help the family become more envoloved in the school. Sometimes a problem is bigger than you can handle on your own and bigger than the family can handle on its own.  I was about Shantay's age when I discovered my family life was very different from the others in my class.  I spent most of my time in the hall doing homework from the night before. The teacher tried to reward me when I actually did my homework but it didn't have much affect. I really needed someone to give me a way to deal with the way things were at home.  Sometimes you have to look outside your classroom to do that.  As a teacher it is your job to use all the school resources to help a student to succeed.

7. Workshops

Author: name disclosed
Posted: 5/24/2005 2:03:14 PM
Subject: Multidimensional Classroom
I attended an in-service this school year pertaining to the topic of differentiated instruction.  The presentation was created and presented by Lynda Rice and she has developed an interesting packet with information and handouts explaining activities, theories, and other concepts concerned with differentiated instruction.  I have her email if anyone is interested because her handouts have been copyrighted, so if you want any of this info. you can email her, just let me know.  
Here is a quick overview of some of the ideas presented that concern creating a differentiated environment.  She shares information about an ideal physical classroom set-up, different ways to find out student's learning style, multiple intelligences, variations of grouping, approaches to curriculum, brain compatible strategies, and she has some suggested reading.  Let me know if you want her email.

• Supported efforts to improve retention

Learning is retained when it is experience-based. This project is believed to have impacted long-term learning because students are personally involved in discussing their own successes, challenges, frustrations, and queries about each topic. Exchanging views with their own colleagues in the same profession, gave way to empathy, compassion and clarification of what is going on in the teaching profession.

Below are examples of what students talked about in the fora.

• dismayed by teaching to the test

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 6/6/2005 6:16:04 PM
Subject: Teaching To The Test
We are teaching to the test!!  Your schools scores determine your schools "status".  Everything is oriented toward the test, however I believe we are still teaching to teach.  If you do not cover something on the test god help you.  When test scores go down the school is in crisis.  I think most teachers try to cover the subject matter, but you must(!) cover what is on the test.  we are teaching to the test, the test is the final score in the game of education.  I firmly believe that we are now teaching to the test, and that is a shame.

• “do your best” message

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 5/31/2005 3:45:08 PM
Subject: teaching to the test or to teach
I agree with both Malinda and Ruth, that all teachers feel the pressure that trickles down to have "your" students do well on the standarized tests. We have the exit standards that we must meet for a specific grade level, which gives us a path to follow for the academic year. However we have to realize that it is not only the accountability year teacher who should be held accountable for the test scores. The teachers the children have had in previous grades should be held accountable for the students' education as well. I taught fourth grade in Ohio for two and a half years. This, just like in Kentucky, is an accountability year. Yet you get students in your class who are on a first and second grade level and have to pass the fourth grade test. You, the 4th grade teacher, are responsible for getting them to grade level in just those few months. Then they measure their "learning" by the test. What about the child that comes into your room reading at a first grade level and leaves reading at a mid-third grade level? Did they not make gains? Who/what measures those gains? Shouldn't that account for something? As a teacher I think that it is important to teach the information that the children will need for the test, but I do not let that hinder my creativity in the classroom. I feel that if I do my best in the classroom, then children will do their best on the test. This topic always reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, Horray for Diffendoofer Day, where the kids like their school because it is different from all of the rest. The principal questions if they are learning all of the "such and such". The teachers tell the students not to fret on the test, because they have the knowledge to succeed. The kids then are able to apply what they have learned to the test and they do a remarkable job.

• “educate all students” message

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 2/1/2005 10:02:34 AM
Subject: RE: Inclusion vs. Self-Containment
For me, inclusion is mainly about the social interaction of special education students and general education students.  Even if we, as teachers, do not feel comfortable, we cannot deny the benefits of inclusion.  When special needs students are "included" they feel more connected with their class and their peers, at the same time, general education students learn how to associate and work with all types of people.  Yes, inclusion does have its pitfalls, especially when special education students placement does not work with the student or students involved.  But, if teachers do not want special needs students in their classroom because they are uncomfortable or to do not know how to teach them, that situation can be remedied easily.  We, as educators, must find ways to educate all students, no matter what disabilities may exist.  There are always professional development workshops or seminars that will help train teachers on how to educate these students.  We must do what we can to learn the best ways to make all students feel included under the inclusion format.

• public school teacher by choice

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 1/26/2005 7:29:18 PM
Subject: RE: Self-Containment and Inclusion
Honestly, I think some teachers in today's society have forgotten what public education is.  Public education is a relatively free service to ANY citizen.  We don't pick and choose who comes into "our" room.  Meeting the needs of every student is part of public education.  I don't believe it should be up to the teacher to decide if they accept a special needs child in "their" room.  In my mind, there is no question.  That is their job.  If someone in any other profession didn't know how to handle a situation would they not do research and use a variety of resources to find out how to manage the situation?  

I made a choice to be a public school educator, with that comes all the good, bad, and ugly.  If I wanted to pick and choose the kids that I would welcome into "my" room, then I would have chosen to be a private/parochial school teacher (nothing against these teachers, I worked in a parochial school during college and 2 of my aunts teach there).  I am strongly for mainstreaming.  

Last year, I had a student with tublerous schlorosis whose main goals were socialization and interaction among peers.  The best part is not only did this child benefit, but so did every other student in my classroom.  I saw empathy, care, and concern among my students.  Our goal as teachers is to prepare students for the real world.  Well, guess what...the real world isn't puppy dogs and ice cream (I'm often told that by my boyfriend because that's the world he thinks I live in).  The real world is diverse.  Students need to be exposed to the diversity.  

At the same time, I also agree with Danielle in that there are times when inclusion is not the best for neither the special needs child or the students in the room.  Special needs students need to be treated as any other.  What works for student A in a general education class doesn't necessarily work for student B in a general education class.  Therefore, what works for special needs student A isn't going to work for special needs student B.  

• contributing to the community of professionals

• reflective thinking as encouraged by another classmate

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 2/20/2005 8:41:43 PM
Subject: RE: RE: RE: Multiple Intelligences
I too have always thought of a student's intelligence as their learning style.  However, I was reading in Woolfolk that this is a common misconception.  Gardner does not believe that intelligences are the same as learning styles.  Furthermore, he does not believe that a student has a consistent learning style. What do you think?

• presenting a challenge to the present situation in the educational system

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 2/22/2005 8:34:44 PM
Subject: Newly posed question
Traditionally, school assessment tools have favored logical/ mathematical and linguistic intelligences.  How do your schools assess the other intelligences (musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, naturalist)?  If not, do you believe schools should be assessing these other intelligences?  If so, how?  Should teachers and schools be held accountable for all of these intelligences?

• promoting diversity in the classroom

Author: name undisclosed
Posted: 6/14/2005 3:03:55 PM
Subject: RE: achievement gap
  I think Candace had some very good suggestions about classroom strategies.   Couple those with Tim's for parent involvement and we are looking to improve the class as a whole.  I think administrators should actively be looking for workshops on motivation rather than some I have attended.  I however am working on a relatively new concept in my classroom by separating my boys and girls within the room to motivate learning.
  I think so many times as educators we cannot see the forest for the trees, we are like parents watching our children grow.  In every classroom there is always diversity of some nature.  Race, learning styles, economics, culture all of these certainly have to be addressed.  Looking for the motivation for one student is to work for creating motivation for all.  How about something as simple as the difference between boys and girls?  I have found that many problems I would have attributed to different learning styles are incorporated into the differences in learning between boys vs. girls.  Some schools are returning to segregated classrooms for boys and girls.  I think the knowledge of integrating these diverse student populations in one classroom is important in motivating the entire class to learn.
If you would like to know more about this brain research try this web site http://www.singlesexschools.org/brain.html)
Or this book:  Boys and Girls Learn Differently  Michael Gurian and Patricia Henley;2001 New York, NY
I'll be glad to discuss this with anyone interested.  Ruth

Fostered the learning of large numbers of students

This project fostered learning of all students in my class because of equal opportunities provided by Oncourse for student participation. Students can use asynchronous online discussion forum to their advantage given that:
a. It is helpful that graduate students have time to compose their messages/ideas. Some issues require careful consideration and research before a response is composed. This is not possible with real-time methods.
b. It is helpful for the discussion to be recorded. Students can use this recorded discussion as a learning material. With an asynchronous discussion, a permanent record can be kept easily on a web site or as emails. With most real-time methods, this not so simple.
c. Students find it difficult to be available at the same time. When students have busy schedules or live in different time zones, it is difficult to organize real-time meetings, whether online or face-to-face. In these situations, an asynchronous discussion provides the maximum flexibility for the student.
d. Not all ideas are presented in class because of limited time and opportunity. This is a venue for graduate students to “showcase” their performance skills based on the criteria (rubric) set for this project.
e. This is a great opportunity for graduate students to talk, share, discuss and work in partnership with colleagues from other schools to solve education issues and problems.

Has broader applications that will affect learning K-12 or community environments

Assessment Plan

How did my research study demonstrate a well-developed assessment plan?

The Instructor’s assessment report about how critical thinking skills and collaborative learning attitude/behavior were promoted was based on her use of the scoring rubric, anecdotal narrative about the whole instructional process (involving the teacher) and learning process (involving the students). Questions, feedback of students and the researcher’s personal reflection about this project were the bases for a qualitative interpretation of the outcome.
The whole instructional development process was patterned from the design-based research methodology (Sandoval & Bell, 2004). This indicates that the treatment process (in this case the asynchronous discussion forum) tends to be the outcome of the project and thus leads to a broad documentation to catch all relevant, both anticipated and unanticipated, consequences of the instructional design and the use of online discussion forum.

• Provisions for assessing effective use of the new tools?

The researcher would like to stress that the focus of assessment was on the critical thinking process, and not just the outcome of that process. The instructional objectives were translated into learning goals using a scoring rubric. Table 1 illustrates the criteria using a scoring rubric. The criteria used were: I. Thinking Skills: a. Gather Relevant Information   b. Reflect Deeply;  II. Value Skills: a. Discuss Collaboratively  b. Demonstrate Respect and Courtesy; and III. Communication Skills: a. Contribute to the Community of Professionals  

Table 1. Asynchronous Online Discussion Forum Scoring Rubric (total = 5 points)

Table 2 is a prototype of the scoring rubric used for peer evaluation. This was the assessment tool used for objectively measuring collaborative work among students. Both self-evaluation and peer evaluation were utilized.

Table 2. Peer Evaluation Scoring Rubric (highest possible score is 4 pts; lowest is -4 pts.)

• Proposed strategies to obtain good measures of effectiveness?

The successful completion of the project relied on the time and effort exerted by the Instructor to monitor students’ process of critical thinking and collaborative learning. I would like to confirm what the literature said about faculty or researchers who plan to use asynchronous discussion fora. Sloffer, Dueber, Duffy (1999) said that with the large volume of interaction data and dedication to formative assessment for the faculty, workload and technology support is an enormous issue. In the process of this research, I monitored the flow of discussion and gave constant positive constructive feedback to every response/message posted by students.

Based on the recorded date and time of students’ posts, results show that graduate students find time to go online, participate and post messages after office/teaching hours, night time and weekends.  It was a great help to me to have a computer and have access online even after office hours. Because of this I was able to monitor, direct and hone students’ critical thinking and collaborative effort by using consistent constructive feedback during the entire forum.

Below are sample emailed feedbacks to students.

• Design-based Research Outcome

The research was also an attempt to make a contribution to the literature of design-based research in the field of education. The Instructor finds it beneficial for teacher training educators to promote the idea of nurturing the relationship between researchers and teachers/or implementers. She would like to contend that teachers can be researchers in their own classrooms by documenting what they have been doing to promote learning in the classroom and thus provide insight to their colleagues about research in real-world contexts.

In the process of research implementation, I listened to students questions and used them as a learning tool to maximize learning through this activity. As a result, I have added two supplementary instructional tools. First is what is on Table 3. It refers to the netiquette adapted from Dave S. Knowlton’s Homepage. It guides students in terms of the mechanics and etiquette to be observed when participating in any online discussion forum. Second is a time line schedule of activities illustrated on Table 4. Sometimes students get confused of the mechanics if they are written in words, therefore I provided a chart to simplify the schedule of activities.

Table 3. How to Maximize Your Online Discussion Forum Participation. Source: Dave S. Knowlton’s Homepage http://www.siue.edu/~dknowlt/DiscussContributes.htm

Table 4. Illustrated Time Line for Online Discussion Forum

Plan for Colleague Development

Describe your role and activities as a mentor:

• What mentoring activities were implemented to assist colleagues?

     Aside from being selected as one of the projects supported by the Indiana University SBC Fellows Program, this project has been:
a. an entree in the 2005 Metroversity Award for Instructional Development;
b. chosen as one of the innovative classroom techniques at the Spotlight on Technology – 2005 Making IT Happen, an exhibit sponsored and organized by ILTE, IUS;
c. presented as part of a team’s paper presentation titled Creating a Culture of Thinking that Hones Teaching Dispositions at the 4th Annual Symposium on Educator Disposition, Erlanger, Kentucky on November 2005; and
d. accepted as a solo paper presentation at the International Conference on Social Sciences, Honolulu, Hawaii on May 31 – June 3, 2006.

Also, this research project has been approved by the Human Subjects Review Board.

I am currently writing a paper about this project for a peer reviewed publication.

• How do you think your contributions to the Knowledge Base will help colleagues planning similar projects?

The instructional procedure and assessment tools explained in this project are of great help to anyone who is planning to use online discussion forum to their own courses. More importantly, the successful completion of this project motivates other faculty to try online discussion forum and see the profound benefit to student learning. This project also sets an example of a teacher-research project that emphasizes action research in one’s own classroom.

• Is your project approach potentially applicable to other contexts or disciplines?

The project approach is applicable to other contexts or disciplines which concerns the importance of student dialogue/discussion of issues.

• What tips would you offer?

The key to improve student learning using online discussion forum is to have both the skill and will to exert time, effort and hard work to be an effective teacher.

Final Comments on Project Results

With the evidences presented, I contend that I have met the goals of this project. Additionally, as reflected in my SET, students expressed appreciation on their participation in the activity. I strongly recommend this teaching approach to my colleagues.

For future projects, I recommend that instructors carefully plan how to integrate and apportion schedules of online activities. Procedures, mechanics, and assessment tools should be clarified through the use and demonstrations of examples. To lessen anxiety of students over unfamiliar tasks, there should be enough practice exercise before online discussion proper starts.

References

Braxton, J. M., Eimers, M. T., & Bayer, A. E. (1996). “The implications of teaching norms for the improvement of undergraduate education”. Journal of Higher Education, 67, 603-625.

Knowlton, D. S. (2005). Creating strong contributions to electronic discussion. Retrieved Fall 2005, from David S. Knowlton’s’ Homepage. Web site: http://www.siue.edu/~dknowlt/DiscussContributes.htm 

Nunn, C. E. (1996). “Discussion in the college classroom: Triangulating observation and survey results”. Journal of Higher Education, 67, 23-26.

Oncourse Instructor’s Guide, Indiana University http://www.indiana.edu/~ittedev/oncourse/workshops_materials/ONCLBv2.1.1_book.pdf

Sandoval, W. A. & Bell, P. (2004). Design-based research methods for studying learning in context: Introduction. Educational Psychologist, 39 (4), 199-201.

Schommer-Aikins, M. (Winter 2004). Explaining the epistemological belief system: Introducing embedded systemic model and coordinated research approach. Educational Psychologist

Sloffer, S. J., Dueber, B., & Duffy, T. M. (1999). “Using asynchronous conferencing to promote critical thinking: Two implementations in higher education”. Center for Research on Learning and Technology (CRLT) Technical Report No. 8-99, Indiana University. Bloomington, IN.

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