Helpful discussion questions take time to write. The process isn’t easy, though it gets easier with practice. But when you’ve mastered it, your online course will feel more like a class and not just a textbook. Students will begin to engage with what you teach and with their classmates. You’ll build a community of learners prepared to ...
TYPES OF INEFFECTIVE QUESTIONS Here are some types of questions that you’ll want to avoid and that can lead to dead ends in discussions: Simple Yes-No Produces little discussion and encourages guessing. • Example: “Is the Aunt expressing a desire for Gigi to marry?” Elliptical Too vague; it is not clear what is being asked.
Polish your effective discussion question writing skills. Yes, a discussion question seeks to stimulate dialogue between participants, but we must not forget that it is still an educational assignment. It is important to have good use of grammar rules and formal writing at all times. Your posts should never contain typos, misspellings, poor ...
The discussion section is where you delve into the meaning, importance, and relevance of your results.. It should focus on explaining and evaluating what you found, showing how it relates to your literature review and paper or dissertation topic, and making an argument in support of your overall conclusion.It should not be a second results section.. There are different ways to write this ...
Some authors choose to write discussion questions that will appear at the back of a book or to be available on the writer’s website. Having written a slew of such questions and having been trained in writing curriculum, I have a few thoughts to offer that will enable you to write relevant questions that actually result in good discussions. ...
Clarify your Discussion Goals – Instructors can let students know what the goals are for a particular discussion section. Write them on the blackboard for later reference. Offer a Shared Point of Departure – Begin a discussion by giving students a place to jump off. For example, you could start class with an introductory type of question, a ...
a question before repeating it, rephrasing it, or adding further information. Have some ready tactics for when discussion isn’t flowing: • Pair Share or Small Group Discussion. Ask small groups to discuss topics to provide a low stakes way of generating conversation. • Writing. Ask students to write at the start or during lulls to give
Writing Effective Discussion Questions - in a Pinch! Set the stage. To begin, build a connection by: (a) Using an everyday scenario (e.g., taking a road trip), (b) Proving data or a statistic around a problem or issue, (c) Drawing upon students’ recall of the weekly readings or videos, or (d) Reflecting on a recent action, such as ...
That may seem like a subtle difference, and it is. But it shows how important it is not to get lazy when you write discussion questions. 5. Good Questions Are Open-Ended. A person can answer "yes" or "no" without engaging his or her brain. On the other hand, an open-ended question compels people to think about the facts of a text, or the situation.
steps as guidelines for constructing discussion questions worthy of an excellent discussion. Step One: Use the text – open the book! Strong discussion questions are anchored to a specific event, scene and/or quote from a text. You should start your discussion questions by pointing your group members of a specific piece of evidence.
The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Action Verbs (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Figure 1) provides a framework for writing a discussion question (or creating a DB learning activity). Essentially, this framework classifies learning into six cognitive levels in a hierarchy structure (from simple to complex cognitive processing). Because discussions ...
Description Discussion prompts are the written “springboard” from which online discussions are launched and are essential to encourage shared understanding (Du, Zhang, Olinzock, & Adams, 2008). Discussion prompts can vary from pithy (e.g., “Discuss [Topic X]”) to verbose (e.g., an entire printed page of instructions). However, the best standard for gauging the effectiveness of a…
Learn about how to write engaging discussion questions that will actually engage students in real discussions. Start learning for free. Type Self-paced; Duration 1 hour; Price Free; Running an online discussion board is a very different challenge from having a classroom discussion. In-person instructors can ask questions on the fly, rephrase ...
Once you’ve determined the type of question to use, you’re ready to write the discussion forum prompt. When writing a prompt, first create a brief introduction that provides context for the question, explains your purpose for asking the question, and sets forth your expectations for the students. If you don’t introduce your discussion ...
To come up with a polished response to a discussion question, write out your answer like it's a mini-essay. Restate what the question asked including a thesis statement in the first few sentences. Your thesis statement is just a sentence that sums up the main points you plan to talk about. After your thesis statement, answer each question and ...
Use the following framework to structure your discussion questions or prompts. Provide a setup. Present a statement, observation, or scenario that requires students to reexamine or apply what they're learning. Ask students to commit. Ask a specific question, one that won't have an obvious right answer, likely in one of the following categories.
For a fantastic guide to writing good discussion questions, take a look at the chart below from "Generating and Facilitating Engaging and Effective Online Discussions" from the University of Oregon’s Teaching Effectiveness Program.Read more →
Strive for quality over quantity. The best small group discussion questions will stimulate a significant amount of discussion from many participants. A small number of these thought-provoking questions will encourage more positive changes than many questions that do not result in much discussion and insight. 5-Steps to Create Discussion Questions