Abstract
Instructors of online courses face unique challenges to ensure student interaction with course material. Sometimes, even the most exciting content is insufficient in an attempt to engage students. Online, asynchronous discussions offer promise as a means to increase student-to-student and student-to-content interaction and, ultimately, student satisfaction with online courses. The modification of structured discussion protocols designed for use in face to face environments offers instructors of online courses an efficient method of adding purpose and structure to asynchronous discussions. This research employed a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent group design to examine students' perception of asynchronous discussion before and after applying a structured discussion protocol that included a clear statement of purpose, directions for participation, and a grading rubric. Results from the data analysis indicated that student perception of online asynchronous discussions improved when a structure was added. Results also showed a lower level of dissatisfaction when discussions were structured.
Highlights
1.1 The Ruthlessly Efficient Online LearnerOnline learning has become a standard method of delivery for undergraduate and graduate courses over the past decade
Question eight on the Student Evaluation of Instruction (SEI) asked students to rate their responses on a five-point Likert Scale to the following statement: “Class discussions and/or other activities helped me to understand the subject matter.”
A Mann-Whitney U test was run to determine if there were differences between student responses to this statement during semesters when the Final Word protocol was used in asynchronous online discussion versus semesters when the minimal structure was used in the online discussion
Summary
1.1 The Ruthlessly Efficient Online LearnerOnline learning has become a standard method of delivery for undergraduate and graduate courses over the past decade. In the 2016-2017 school year, 76 percent of all degree-granting institutions offered courses online, and about 50 percent of institutions provided at least one program entirely online. About one-third of degree-seeking students enrolled in at least one online course during the same academic year, and about 15 percent of those enrolled in degree programs were offered entirely online (Xu & Xu, 2019). The number of students who participate in online learning continues to increase year after year and grew to over 6.3 million for the fall semester of 2016 (Seaman et al, 2018). Once the public health crisis ebbs and allows for the safe return to face-to-face teaching, there may be students who opt to continue to access courses online because of ongoing health concerns or convenience, further increasing the prevalence of online instruction
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