Evaluating the impact of online discussion boards on student engagement with group work

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the use of an online discussion board as an assessment item on students learning performance in relation to group work based on Social Learning Theory. The study uses survey questionnaires at the beginning and end of semester together with student grade information. The data analysis consists of (1) a regression analysis to explore the relationship between student interaction and performance and (2) a repeated measures ANOVA to explore changes in attitude and perceived encouragement. Student's perceptions at the outset were found to be important as was the use of the online discussion board as a learning tool even when it is not assessed. Further, students' attitude to the online discussion board improved through the semester however the online assessment task did not encourage domestic students to be more engaged in group‐based activities. In contrast, international students were more encouraged to participate in group‐based activities at the end of the semester. The study has implications for online group activities in education.

Teaching Emotional Intelligence Online: The Sociology of Discussion Boards

“…Providing guidelines, such as netiquette, for communication will facilitate discussions (Asif, Vertejee, & Lalani, 2015). Introverted students or non-native speakers will have time to formulate their TEACHING ONLINE: THE SOCIOLOGY OF DISCUSSION BOARD 5 thoughts and words for their discussion board posts and responses to their classmates (Delaney, Kummer, & Singh, 2019;Hall, 2015). Peer-to-peer learning is one of the benefits of using discussion boards (Aloni & Harrington, 2018).…”

“…One way to build that community is through sharing personal experiences (Basko & McCabe, 2018). Required regular discussion boards promote peer discussion as students continue their discussions throughout the course (Delaney, Kummer, & Singh, 2019).…”

“…Students must understand the purpose of discussion boards, how those discussions relate to the instruction, and the instructor's expectations; when students are confused, they are less likely to participate (Aloni & Harrington, 2018). It is important that expectations are set early in the course because students' perceptions need to be aligned with the instructor's expectations at the onset (Delaney, Kummer, & Singh, 2019). One strategy that can help students understand is by including grading rubrics that clearly indicate discussion post and response expectations (Aloni & Harrington, 2018;Bollinger & Martin, 2018;Keeble, 2017).…”

“…Students are more likely to participate in discussions when they realize that discussion posts have value, and are being graded. In Delaney, Kummer, and Singh's (2019) research on the impact of online discussion boards, they found a positive relation between discussion board participation and grades, and they found that incentives motivate students to participate. Based on their literature review, Aloni and Harrington (2018) suggested a discussion board weight of between 10% and 20% of the final grade-the weight must be enough to motivate students.…”

Can Facebook Improve Students’ Engagement in Flipped Classes? Community of Inquiry Approach

“…Peer tutoring looks at the interactions among students with the focus on the curriculum. While the peer tutoring has been shown in literature as an effective practice for improving students' engagement [16], [17], Delaney et al [18] implement an online discussion board and highlight the role of collaborative tools to facilitate the peer tutoring and engaging students with flipped learning materials. The track history of Social Network Sites (SNS), as learning tools, goes back to the use of online discussion boards that organize online community conversations along a thread of content or learning objectives [19].…”