Presented to Greenville College MSMP Faculty on February 4, 2012, Greenville, IL.

1. Enhancing your teaching effectiveness in a hybrid program
FACILITATING THE DISCUSSION FORUM
Greenville College MSMP Faculty Workshop
February 4, 2012

2. FLIPPED CLASSROOM VIDEO

3. FLIPPED CLASSROOM VIDEO
 Did you watch it before you came to class?
 Why?
 What are your thoughts?
 What questions did it raise in your mind?
 Is this an option that you might use in a
hybrid classroom? Face to Face? Online?
Why?
 Is this approach suitable for adult learners?
Why or why not?

4. THE FIRST WEEK
 Trust must be established.
 Be clear about expectations.
 Model what you want students to do.
 Characteristics
 Behavior

5. ADVANTAGES TO ONLINE DISCUSSIONS
 Students in research studies have reported:
 Online discussions can be more reflective.
 Introverted or students who perceive themselves
as “different” usually feel more comfortable in an
online setting.
 Everyone’s voice is heard.
 There is a record of the discussion.

6. ACTIVE LEARNING & TEACHING THROUGH
DISCUSSION FORUMS
 Learning is about catching the concept
 Active Learning includes:
 Concise postings
 Dialogue
 Reflection
 Netiquette
 Discussions connected to lived experiences
 Setting up discussions with good discussion starters
 Continuing discussions with solid questions and
TEACHING

7. IMPROVING YOUR STUDENTS THINKING SKILLS
 Create a safe, trusted environment.
 Use Inquiry format in a community of
practice.
 Provide focus for students to keep to a
particular point or concept.
 Pose higher-order thinking skills to
encourage thinking processes.
 Start where student is (Jesus’ model of
teaching).
 Help student grow by asking questions.

8. PRACTICE
 Open discussion
 Structured topic discussion
 Point/Counterpoint
# of words
 Collaborative Task Discussion

9. GUIDED DISCUSSION
 How do you guide the discussion forums?
 Sentence Openers
 Refocus Questions
 Clarifying Questions
 Verifying Questions
 Narrow Focus Questions
 Supporting Questions

10. DIVERSITY
 Cultural  Race
 Age  Personality
 Gender  Geography

11. PRACTICE
 Re write one of the following discussion
forum questions:
 In your family, describe how the mother and
father are treated differently by the children.
 This is an interesting discussion. You shy people
need to weigh in now.
 What did you learn about systems management
from watching American Idol last night?
 What do the non-Christian’s in our group think of
Christopher Stone’s essay on Generation X?

12. BEST PRACTICES
 Understand your learners.
 Adult learners come with specific challenges
 Use the advantage of asynchronous learning
activities.
 Use solid andragogical learning practices.
 Promote active learning.
 Establish strong trust.
 Be respectful.
 Be a guide in all learning.
 Keep learning yourself.