ASC Teaching Forum – Facilitating Meaningful Asynchronous Discussion

Description:
On September 11, 2023, the College of Arts and Sciences Office of Distance Education hosted a Teaching Forum on strategies and tools to support meaningful asynchronous discussions in online, hybrid, and in-person courses. A well-structured asynchronous discussion can unlock enriching peer learning and engagement.  

Faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences and university staff experts shared their experiences designing and managing effective class discussions in asynchronous learning environments and described specific strategies and tools to create interactive learning experiences.

 Anticipated Outcomes: Our goal was that by the end of this session, attendees would be able to...

• Consider the specific contexts of asynchronous discussion and develop a plan to incentivize robust student participation    
• Identify tools, other than Carmen discussion boards, that can be effectively used to facilitate student discussion  
• Apply pedagogical strategies to improve the depth and quality of student discussions 
• Develop assignment descriptions and instructional resources to convey student expectations for discussions and peer responses 

Panelists:

Katie Braun (Department of English)
Becky Mansfield (Department of Geography)
Anaís Roque (Department of Anthropology) 
Sarah Dove (Office of Distance Education)
Jessica Henderson (ASC Office of Distance Education)