• Follow us on Twitter
  • Join our Facebook Group

University Survival

  • Student Success Skills
    • Picking a College
    • Financing Your Education
    • Choosing a Major
    • Preparing for College
    • Managing the Personal Side of the Transition to College
    • Developing Discipline to Do Well
    • Managing the Social Side of College
    • Being an Efficient Learner
    • Taking Tests
    • Ensuring You Receive The Grade You Want
    • Managing Group Projects
    • Becoming a Campus Leader
    • Student Athletes
    • Navigating College Practices
    • Succeeding on Internships and Co-ops
    • Making Critical Decisions
    • Overcoming Challenges for Specific Types of Students
    • Setting Goals
    • Being an International Student In The United States
    • Using Resources
    • Communication Skills for College Graduates
    • Building a Professional Network
    • Using LinkedIn to Develop Your Network
    • Preparing for a Career
    • Understanding Job Protocols
    • Developing Essential Career Skills
    • Becoming a Leader
    • Overcoming Career Challenges
    • Planning for your Financial Future
  • Parent Connections
    • Parent Topics
      • Being a Supportive Parent
      • Making Critical Decisions
      • Financing Your Student’s Education
    • Parent Emails
  • Teacher Resources
  • Resources
  • Community
  • About
You are here: Student Success Skills » Ensuring You Receive The Grade You Want » Participating In Discussions In Online Classes

Student Success Skills

Participating In Discussions In Online Classes

by jennifer
July 27, 2012

In many classes, participating in online discussions can be a significant part of the grade.  In a face-to-face class, you can often hide from in class discussions.  That’s not the case with online courses.

Generally the instructor in an online course will post a discussion question.  There will be requirements for the number of postings you need to do and the timing of these.  The teacher will generally give you guidance for the grading of the postings.

How do you get a good grade in online discussions? All faculty are different in how they grade online discussions, but if you use the strategy below you should get a good grade.

  1. Practice the “Yes – And” approach used in improvisational comedy.  We are all familiar with “Yes – But” responses.  A person starts off by saying he/she agrees with us and then says but.  What follows the but is a negation of most of what you said. Yes – And responses say why we agree with someone else.   The And part of the response is our additional insight that further develops what the person is saying. In online discussions, teachers want you to be developmental not argumentative in your contributions to the discussion.
  2. Set aside time each day to contribute to the discussion.  You really can’t understand the flow of the discussion or make useful contributions if your participation is erratic.  It works best when you do this at the same time each day.  Normally you can find a good time to do this when you are normally free from other things you need to do.
  3. Be respectful of your peers.  As you read the posts, think of these two questions
  • How can I build on these comments? (e.g. what might have been left out?)
  • How can I use my own point of view to support what the others are saying? (e.g. Can I make the ideas being expressed even better by sharing how I think about this?)
  1. Be thoughtful in your response.  What you don’t want to do is just parrot what others are saying.
  2. Identify your own contribution style and build your discussion strategy around it.  Are you more comfortable by speaking up first when you are with your friends?  If so, you might try to be an early contributor.  Are you one who is good at synthesizing what others are saying?  If so you might wait until several posts have been made and then contribute an organizing framework for the discussion.  Are you one who can see the flaws on other’s thinking?  If so, your contributions might be to suggest areas in the discussion that might be addressed.
  3. Be yourself in your posts. Often discussion forums are the only interaction that you will have with your classmates and teacher. Make an impression! If you have a good sense of humor, don’t be afraid of showing this in your post. Of course you want your contributions to the discussion to be serious and thoughtful, but by no means must you be mechanical. You can still be yourself and connect with your classmates through online forums.
  4. Sometimes online discussions feel like “busy work.” They especially feel like this when the instructor or teaching assistant is less present than the students in the discussion forum. Nevertheless, treat these discussions as serious exchanges of ideas that are documented for all to see. The teacher can go back to these forums when he or she is writing a letter of reference for you or when you request a second review of your final grade in the course.

If you follow these strategies, you should be able to get a good grade on the discussion part of an online class.

 

Topic suggested by Ria Hermann, an advisor at West Virginia University..

← Maintaining Communications Example
Succeeding in an Online Class →

Suggest a Topic

Looking for a topic and can't find it? Why not submit one...

Suggest a Topic

Share This

Rate This Topic

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading...

Testimonials

  • The biggest improvement I have made this semester has got to be my study habits.  This semester I made it my goal to study more and work harder in school.  I have kept pretty well to my word up till now and I hope I can continue to do so.  Another improvement that I have made this semester that I'm not too proud to say is not going out during the week.  Along with studying, I also made this my goal.  My dad always told me work comes before play, it's such a simple quote, but it's the truth.  If I plan on doing well this semester, I am going to have to limit my "play" to the weekends and work hard during the week.  With both of my improvements being said, it's likely that my grades are going to improve greatly.  I need to have self-discipline in order to complete my goals until the semester is over.  Discipline is something I lack and I also hope to improve as I make good habits in regards to my studies..

Sign Up For Student Emails

Enter your email below to get weekly student emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Suggest a Topic

Looking for a topic and can't find it? Why not submit one...

Suggest a Topic

Share This

Sign Up For Parent Emails

Enter your email below to get weekly parent emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Suggest a Topic

Looking for a topic and can't find it? Why not submit one...

Suggest a Topic
© Copyright - University Survival