On-Line Discussion Groups As A Tool To Enhance Writing Across The Curriculum Projects

Benjamin V.C. Collins

University of Wisconsin—Platteville

My main writing assignment in Elementary Statistics is to have my students do “Statistical Reviews,” in which they read articles with statistical content and comment on them. I have had this assignment, in one version or another, for some time. During the past academic year, I enhanced the assignment using the course management system Blackboard. Using Blackboard, I created on-line discussion groups of 4 to 8 students. They had one week to discuss the article informally before they wrote the formal paper.

My interaction with these groups was two pronged. During the first half of the course, I read each Discussion Board carefully twice per week, and made it a point to give extensive feedback. If students were off topic, I pointed that out. If they advanced wrong ideas, I would ask questions trying to get them to clarify their misconceptions (or, in extreme cases, I would simply point out the errors and give the correct idea.) I tried to model good Discussion Board etiquette by quoting the person I was responding to, being polite and respectful, and using clear, complete sentences and paragraphs.

During the second half of the course, I let the groups roam more independently. Although I monitored them for grading purposes, I didn’t give feedback. This saved me time, of course, but it resulted in some incorrect reasoning going unchallenged.

Overall, I was pleased enough with the results of this project that I will continue for the foreseeable future. Student reaction to the writing project was mixed, but none of the negatives was strong enough to make me abandon the project.

Some issues that I will discuss:

• Taking students out of their comfort zone. (“Why do we have to write in a math class?”)
• Encouraging student participation. Students that don’t participate (or don’t participate much) and the impact on their group members.
• Grading issues. How to give credit for good ideas while not discouraging the posting of ideas that are still forming.
• Time issues. Am I asking too much of them? Am I asking too much of myself?
• Technological barriers and technophobia.

As noted above, I plan to continue to work with Blackboard, and to continue to employ on-line discussion. The assignment will continue to evolve. I’m reasonably certain that these discussions don’t detract from my “Writing Across the Curriculum” project, and that for at least some students they enhance it. I can recommend these ideas to anyone who is willing to employ writing in their course.