Is anyone else sick of cookie cutter discussion questions in your DL class?

I totally agree with that! What I try to do in my post is to use a quote or two from the book (most of the time it is required to do so) and the rest is my own experiences.

 

This is exactly what I tend to do most of the time. There are a few on there who actually have something to say and I wonder if the instructor wonders why I always respond to the same 4 or 5 people in our class

 

I don't have that problem in my grad classes at AMU. Everyone seems to realize that we need to put lots of original thought into our work which yields excellent posts from most of the class.

 

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I'll admit I'm the same way. I generally enjoy creating my post, it's the robo-reply requirement that drives me insane. You have to be nice, and you have to be constructive, and you have to meet the criteria for full credit. Generally, I try to find something that someone has written off the beaten path or something I disagree with. I'm not trying to be argumentative, it just give me something to actually talk about! I do think that by about a person's 10th DL class, that most have mastered the ability to creatively concur in 100 word replies.

 

All of that, like a few other things in school, is just jumping through the required hoops and making the expected noises to get through the whole thing. Some parts of online education are great; threaded discussions could be great but often they are a waste of time. Randell123 has some good ideas to make the discussions better.

 

LOL. Funny. I used to see this all the time while in UG and G School.

 

YES!!!! As long as you can back up what you're trying to say by elaborating and providing evidence, then say what you want! Disagree! Who Cares?! I want to LEARN from my classmates; isn't that part of what I'm paying for? I find it much more interesting when someone disagrees with me.

 

I agree with you both. I found in my last class, out of the 18-19 or so who were left after the mass exodus of dropping out in the first week or two, maybe 2-3 people I found myself conversing with regularly. I started just responding to their posts every week, because at least it was meaningful dialogue.

 

"That's comical. When I had to do those discussions, I actually got lazy in opposite manner as those students. I would spend a good amount of time and craft my original post very well and I would usually get top points. Where I slacked off was in reading the other posts. I would usually just skim them to find something to say that would fulfill the requirement. I did that because, like you said, the other posts were mostly a bunch of drivel. There were usually a few thoughtful students in the group and I would try to find their posts to read."


LOL...I do the EXACT same thing! The mandatory discussion responses, in my opinion, is a waste of time. That is definitely one thing I really can't stand about taking classes online. In my experience, there are only a few others on the discussion board worth responding to. When I attended classes, there was never a participation requirement. Heck, most people either slept during the lecture, or they only showed up on the day of a test.

 

I do the same thing in my classes now, I find the one or two people that I enjoy conversing with and reply to their posts. What I find funny is the people who screw up the first discussion in the first week of class! I know it takes some time to read a few chapters, but sometimes I wonder how these people are allowed to stay in college.

 

What I find interesting about the requirement for posting in DL classes is that in a B&M setting many folks get by without making any contribution. I also remember spending many an hour in grade school staring at a wall for talking in class, yet when required to post in a DL class I just don't have as much to say. I guess those lessons took.

 

Let your instructor know about your frustration. Normally, they have been trained and / or compensated to move online discussions forward.

 

I agree. Most of the students are just going for points and not trying to actually have a meaningful discussion, so they just tend to regurgitate what they think the instructor wants to see. I gave up on meaningful discussions a long time ago and I'm afraid that I just go for the points as well. I personally have never gotten anything from those silly discussions anyway. You can have your meaningful discussions here at DI.

 

I've done this multiple times in the past at EC for different classes. And what happens? My grade takes the hit because I can't bring myself to do the crappy 'Yeah, I totally agree!' responses.

 

Understood. That is a difficult situation. If you are feeling generous, you might write that feedback in the end of class surveys, so the University is aware of this issue; that doesn't help you but perhaps it will help someone else.

 

I agree with the threadstarter.

 

I absolutely HATE the discussion board requirements!! Mostly the required responses to other students. However, I have had one course at APU where the instructor posted several follow up questions through out the week. You could respond to the instructors questions and that counted as your additional responses. That made it much easier to get the points without having to either argue with someone or write a very long 'I agree' statement.

I am so burnt out on the format of the 8 week business courses (partly due to the discussion board requirements)! I enrolled in a 16 week writing course this semester to take a break - and keep my student loan deferment going. When I saw that the writing course only required one introduction discussion board for the whole course I almost cried tears of relief.

 

Discussion board requirements are nice give me points. I do value instructor participation in a classroom discussion board. Something that I often see lacking.

 

In the discussion boards for classes I've experienced at EC, I'd say the following -

The instructors need to be more involved. Saying 'Good thoughts' etc, is about as good as the 'I agree' replies. Stir up the discussion, make people think... All the intructors I have currently have doctorates... They should have an idea of how to keep conversations in their field going, getting the students to explore the material more in depth through the interaction. Currently, I've only got one prof that does this. I realize that if the class is large, this can make a lot of work for the intructors, but a few well placed responses can keep things going.

Don't overload the class with discussions... one a week is alright. Two a week for 15 weeks might be fine if all the students are only taking one or two classes (which isn't unusual for DL, I guess), but there are students who are pulling a larger load than that. So if there's going to be midterms, or a short answer 'quiz' that's 10 questions and ends up being more work than either a mid term or final, a project and 4 discussion questions due with requirements to respond to 'most of the available posts' in a large (15-20 people class) at the same time (to maintain a good discussion grade, rather than getting 70/100), its a bit much, especially for those who have 2-3 or even 4 classes going on that all have the same workload. Especially in 15-16 week classes... Its just busy-work, we all know it, and its horrible to slog through if the questions themselves and the discussions in general aren't engaging or are just downright obtuse.

Deduct points for people who fulfill the 'most of the class' requirement with a 'Me too!' or 'I agree' posts that doesn't add squat to the discussions.. And don't penalize people who don't respond to most of the class when there's just nothing to respond to... Especially when you're told to make sure to respond to posts that contain differing views when all the posted views are all pretty much in line with each other... Eeesh...

5 more weeks of this inanity... Just 5 more weeks...

(Until I start at APU in March, if no other program catches my eye before then, and then I guess its back to discussion boreds... )