Subject: [IFETS-Discuss] MODERATING AND VLE'S
mowen@rem.bangor.ac.uk
Date: Sat 24 Jun 2000 - 02:48:44 MEST
From: mowen@rem.bangor.ac.uk Subject: [IFETS-Discuss] MODERATING AND VLE'S Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 17:48:44 -0700
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I Hhave just read the paperrecommended BY Lyb Ambrose in last months
discussion:
lyn writes:
A research paper "Keeping Online Asynchronous Discussions on Topic" by
Bart P. Beaudin PhD, Colorado State University can be found at
http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/Vol3_issue2/beaudin.htm. This paper is a
valuable learning tool as a "new" moderator.
HERE IS THE OPENNING OF THE :
IV. DISCUSSION AND
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
"The results of this study suggest that keeping online asynchronous
discussion on topic can be best done by carefully designing good
questions, providing guidelines for learners to
use when preparing their responses, rewording the question when
discussions go off topic, and by providing discussion summaries. Although
the results are not generalizable beyond
the study population there are several implications new and experienced
online instructors might want to consider when keeping asynchronous
discussion on topic.
The "carefully design questions that specifically elicit on-topic
discussion" item (ranked # 1) is a practice that is supported in the
literature [1], [23], [24], [25]. The technique of
designing good questions is key to good teaching and learning. Taba [23]
described questioning as the single most influential teaching act because
of the ability of questions to
influence the learning process. Therefore online instructors should be
encouraged to develop questions that are clear, concise, and directly
relate to the purpose of posing thequestion."
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The paper fits in a classic positivist tradition and is a classic example
of non-useful research.
SHOULD I REALLY BE SUPRISED AT THE FINDING THAT MODERATORS THINK THAT WELL
FRAMED QUESTIONS ARE THE BEST WAY OF MODERATING A DISCUSSION?
The issue arises "Does Dr Beaudin tell me anuthing about moderating a
discussion that a neophyte to the topic couldn't work out for themselves?
It is time to leave behind the safety of Lickert scales and standard
deviations in this field and begin to ask the hard questions. In this case
what we really want to know is "what makes a good question?".
I would suggest that answering that question is best done as a study of
the social, linguistic and cultural patterns we find in electronic
collaborations rather than facile questionnaires.
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