Assessing and rewarding online participation

Discipline Area

Arts/humanities

Key assessment issue addressed

Stimulating and rewarding participation in discussion in non-face-to-face class interaction

The initiative

This project is an attempt to adapt traditional humanities 'critical discussion' methods of teaching to an online environment.

Two particular problems are faced in this altered environment:
- The traditional expectation that discussion will benefit from 'knowing where people are coming from' (ie, their assumptions, cultural and otherwise) as well as knowing what their collective goal is , is difficult to promote in a disembodied discussion environment;
- The expectation that discussion will be 'critical' - progressively refining a position by exposing it to continuing 'collision of adverse (or sceptical) opinions' is also difficult to promote in an asynchronous discussion environment, where memory and attention-lapse is liable to promote transmission of 'information' rather than its evaluation.

The approach adopted is to require - and reward - students to initiate their own discussion in a structured discussion environment. That is, online and printed resources are supplied along with an agenda for each discussion topic. Each student is required to play the role of discussion leader once per semester, and each student is required to respond in discussion evolving in a pre-advertised sequence over a two-week period. (Full version in 'Online Tutorials in HIST201: A User's Guide) The role of the tutor is to act as guinea pig for a prototype discussion, then to act as backstop and reporter of conclusions. The student is rewarded with a total of 20% of final marks for leading and participating in online discussion.

Evidence of regularity and quality of participation, plus online and focus-group surveys of effectiveness, reveal a high degree of involvement in preparation, presentation and, above all, refinement of skills of critical appraisal.

The reason for the initiative's effectiveness

Once 'information resources' and agenda structures are in place, students enjoy 'owning their own collective learning experience' and actually benefit from the opportunity for reflective and evidenced response available to them over the extended discussion period which the online tutorial provides.

Further details

Dr Michael Roberts
Department of Modern History
Macquarie University
mroberts@hmn.mq.edu.au