Poster session presented at the Michigan Library Association Annual Conference in Novi, MI October 28, 2015. Sandra McCarthy Washtenaw Community College Faculty Librarian

1. Background
The demand for online delivery of college courses continues
to grow nationally. (1) The advancement of technology
combined with continued research in effective delivery
modes provide for continued improvement in online courses.
New technology provides an avenue for students to
communicate. The online discussion in an online course can
have many different purposes. “Online discussions can be
categorized as “students demonstrate comprehension or
application of the course concepts. Other faculty believe the
purpose of the discussion is formative assessment, with the
focus on instructor-student interaction. Another group
believes the purpose of the discussion is to get students
talking to one another.”(2) All formats have their merit.
This study was implemented during Fall 2014 semester in ACS
123 Information Literacy one (1) credit online class.
Purpose
The purpose of the evaluation is to improve the online
discussion board posts by enhancing the interaction and
conversation among students.
Objectives
•To understand the reasons why students do not post their
initial discussion post by Sunday at noon.
•To understand the reasons why students do not
participate in online discussion
•To review the current discussion board guidelines and
suggest improvements if needed
•To enhance the quality of the discussion board for
students
Methods
Participants included 19 students enrolled in ACS 123
Information Literacy online course.
Research Questions. Students in the study are asked three
questions and required to respond to two classmate’s
posts.
1. Why do you wait to post your initial discussion after the
deadline (Sunday by noon)?
2. Do you find that the discussion board is a worthwhile
exercise? Explain your answer (Yes/No is not an acceptable
answer)
3. This is an online class. This discussion board is an
opportunity to interact with your classmates. What
suggestions do you have to enhance the interactions and
conversation?
Analysis
12 of the 19 students participated in the discussion board.
Posts are copied and pasted into spreadsheet and student
names are stripped from data. Each post was further
analyzed by sentence into the spreadsheet.
Posts are analyzed by instructor.
This is a summative evaluation design analyzing student
questionnaire responses and observation identifying
emerging themes about the class discussion board.
The Important of the Discussion Board: A qualitative research project
in an online information literacy class
Sandra C. McCarthy, Faculty Librarian, Washtenaw Community College Library mccarthy@wccnet.edu
This research project was granted approval by
WCC Institutional Research Department.
Results
Emerging Themes
Two major themes emerged from reviewing the data:
Discussion Board – within this theme the follow minor
topics emerged:
Timing – Overcommitted, time management, and
overwhelmed
Value – Enjoy discussion board, share ideas, and
communicate with peers
Topic – Current events , personal and relate to unit
Communication – relate with others
Technology - issues
Grading – give credit late post
Personal - issues
Personal – within this theme the following minor topics
emerged:
Personal Life
Timing – too many responsibilities
Conclusions
Lack of student time management skills was a major theme identified
during the analysis.
Relate online discussion board to personal experience
This study provides instructors with an understanding of how students
value the discussion board in an online course.
1. U.S. Department of Education.(2014 , June). Enrollment of distance education courses, by state.
Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014023.pdf
2. Hall, B. (2015, April 6) “You’re Asking the Wrong Question” Retrieved October 12, 2015, from
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/youre-asking-the-wrong-question/