Abstract
Abstract:In addition to learning more about a topic, online discussion activities may be used to develop skills in reflective practice, critical evaluation, and leadership. Faculty often spends a great amount of time and energy developing discussion assignments that will improve these skills and align with course learning outcomes. Facilitating and evaluating online discussion assignments can seem overwhelming and time-consuming for instructors. Students may feel the online discussion forum assignments lacks clarity and be at a loss on how to proceed. Incongruity about the assignment occurs when the instructor’s expectations about the discussion activity and the students' understanding about the assignment’s expectations do not align. This article will review a collaborative process used to align instructor expectations and student understanding for the express purpose of evaluating online discussion board assignments in a fair and objective manner.
Highlights
In addition to learning more about a topic, online discussion activities may be used to develop skills in reflective practice, critical evaluation, and leadership
With enrollment in most classes at maximum capacity of 30 students per faculty member, this accounted for 10.5 hours of grading time per week prior to the implementation of the program-wide discussion board grading rubric
By the end of the seven-week course term in which the rubric was implemented, faculty members reported 8.2 minutes spent per student for discussion board activity grading and feedback
Summary
In addition to learning more about a topic, online discussion activities may be used to develop skills in reflective practice, critical evaluation, and leadership. This article will review a collaborative process used to align instructor expectations and student understanding in order to evaluate online discussion board assignments in a fair and objective manner. Online discussion activities are routinely used to engage learners in course content, based on the belief that this type of engagement helps online learners to grasp concepts, improve understanding, and develop skills in reflective practice, critical evaluation, and leadership. To accomplish these goals, discussion assignments must align with course learning outcomes and engage students. The aim of this project was to collaboratively develop an online RN-BSN program-wide discussion activity grading rubric that clearly outlined expectations for student participants and provide clear and consistent guidelines for faculty assessment of discussion assignment activity, as well as to provide a means of specific, meaningful feedback to students
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