Essential Elements in Designing Online Discussions to Promote Cognitive Presence — A Practical Experience

Abstract

Online discussions have been increasingly integrated into face-to-face classes at universities to enhance student learning of course content. The primary focus of past research has been on the end products of online discussions. Studies reported either successful findings or results that fell short of desired learning outcomes. An in-depth investigation is needed about how the design of online discussions is related to success. This paper reports our experiences in conducting a three-phase, design-based study: (1) designing the online discussion activity; (2) implementing our design in a university course; (3) empirically investigating our design.

Enhancing the Quality of Online Discussion—Assessment Matters

“…The assessment rules in the present study were designed based on the review and evaluation of these previous frameworks. The design of the assessment rules had gone through multiple cycles of design, implementation, investigation, and redesign (Chen, Wang, & Hung, 2009; Wang, 2019; Wang & Chen, 2008). The assessment rules designed in this study are presented in Table 1.…”

Assessing Online Discussions: A Holistic Approach

“…Assessment of learning focuses on assessing the end product of student learning activities. Wang and Chen (2008) state that collaborative critical inquiry through online discussion should always result in a tangible product. “We considered it essential for the online discussion to result in a tangible product, be it a presentation, a paper, or a project.” The online discussion is designed as part of a course assignment.…”

“…Participants depend on each other for their success because the task is so challenging that it requires more than one single member to handle. When online discussion is embedded to support the task that demands interdependence, students will be motivated to participate (Hung & Chen, 2001; Wang & Chen, 2008). As a result, the quality of the assignment would be enhanced through collaborative efforts of participants working together online.…”