Facilitating discussions

Remember the story about Goldilocks and her search for the bed that was “just right”? One was too soft, one was too hard. Only baby bear’s bed, found at the end of her search, was “just right”. In your own classes you want to find the “end” condition from the very beginning!

Too hard and too soft

Most novice (and even many veteran) facilitators fall into one of these ineffective categories. The “too hard” facilitator is one that:

• Doesn’t trust his/her designed discussion questions to elicit useful responses
• Controls the discussion
• Enters too quickly and/or too often into the discussions

If you aren’t sure, or haven’t designed interesting applicable questions, those that ask for more than the “facts”, you may have a tendency to want to control the discussions. You may not trust your design. This often leads a facilitator to jump into a discussion too quickly, before classmates have a chance to respond. Numerous instructor postings result and the most frequent outcome is a dead halt to potential learning situations. Why?

Traditional students (and even adult students) are typically conditioned to believe in the “baby bird” theory of education. They open their mouths and the teacher drops in the worms of knowledge. Once the teacher has given them the “right answer” they assume there is no need to continue any discussion unless they are confused. The discussion then dies or becomes a series of mini-lectures from teacher to student. This is not student-centered and results in little higher order thinking by the student.

Additionally, the “too hard” facilitator has a tendency to enter the discussion when a posting elicits a response they did not expect. This is a behavior that reinforces the “baby bird” theory. There is only one right answer and it is what the teacher says! If you have constructed an effective discussion question, you’ll have confined the area of discussion to the most important lesson to be learned. The students explore, within the limits you have set, and should be encouraged to do so as long as misinformation or unrelated information isn’t being disseminated.
On the “flip-side” the “too soft” facilitator:

• Believes that discussions aren’t significant or an effective way to learn.
• Believes he/she has designed questions that should result in active discussions without further interaction on his/her part.
• Initially has very active and productive discussion forums without “stepping in”

If you don’t believe that interaction among students is a significant learning tool, you’ll reinforce students’ common initial reaction to them – it’s just busy work and busy work doesn’t elicit critical thinking. Work gets done quickly and without much thought, therefore fulfilling the course requirements. Another attitude operates from the facilitator who subscribes to the “Field of Dreams” mentality that “if you build it, they will come”. Hopefully this is true; a good design is 50% of the solution. However, most undergraduates and community college students will need some type of guidance and support, especially during the initial discussion assignments. The final type of “too soft” facilitator is the one that appears to be blessed. His or her first discussion questions result in well thought-out postings and a flurry of replies that stimulate additional discussion. The problem begins when there are a decreasing number of postings, with less thought, as the course progresses.

The commonality among these three is too little involvement of the facilitator in the actual discussion forums. This situation leads to a belief by students that the instructor isn’t paying attention, so the assignment isn’t important. They may even assume the instructor isn’t attending class (logging on) regularly, so why should they! Remember that they can’t determine if you read every posting and are following the discussions evolving. Even if “all is well” you will still need to post “Great Job!” or “Enjoying the Discussion” messages once in a while. You may also need to communicate privately with students to encourage more participation or critical thoughts and replies. Facilitating discussions is a balancing act, not too hard, not too soft, but just right!

Just right

The “just right” approach typically results in outcomes that discussions were designed to accomplish. They help students learn, they develop community, and they create a student-centered classroom where students often “teach” the class very effectively. These types of discussions are generated by a facilitator who:

• Makes his/her presence felt but doesn’t dominate.
• Enters discussions when asked a question directed specifically to him/her.
• Redirects only when information is incorrect, or has drifted out of the realm of the question asked and is off-topic.
• Allows time for students to respond to each other, before commenting.
• Immediately stops inappropriate, rude or hostile postings.
• Promotes critical thinking through Socratic questioning.

Facilitating discussions asynchronously requires al “just right” combination of diligence, self control, and practice. It becomes easier with experience, and results in a student-centered environment where critical thinking thrives. Learning facilitation skills is often a trial and error process. Best practice literature and suggestions from veteran facilitators can provide effective guidelines.