Case+Study+Lack+of+Participation

** Case Study - Lack of Participation [[image:boredperson.JPG align="left" caption="image of bored person"]] **
Scenario Your online course is underway, and you notice that very few students are participating. The discussion board has very few posts. You are becoming increasingly concerned, as a substantial portion of the course grade is based on interaction among the learners.

What steps might you take to address this problem? Your analysis should include the following 4 components: 1. What, in your view, is the problem here? 2. What strategies will you use to address this problem? 3. What steps might have been taken to prevent this problem from occurring in the first place? 4. Provide a sample statement or message that you might send to a student or group of students as a means of addressing this problem.

Input below from Nick

1. What strategies will you use to address these problems?
 * The following are all factors that could contribute to a lack of online course participation:
 * Students become frustrated and tend to drift away, because:
 * there is a heavy concentration of text-based materials to process (Nick)
 * there isn’t enough variety in the types of delivery mechanisms used to keep the students actively engaged and interested (Nick)
 * the instructor isn’t making him (or herself) available often enough (Nick)
 * there is a lack of clear direction (or poor instructions) to guide the students (Nick)
 * the class size may have increased and/or is too large, making it difficult to manage certain activities--such as discussions (Nick)

2. What strategies will you use to address these problems? >>> 3. What steps would you have taken to prevent this problem from occurring in the first place?
 * The strategies that could be used to address these problems are:
 * fashion tasks and exercises that emphasis student collaboration and de-emphasizes the traditional role of the instructor (or professor) as the central figure in the pedagogical play (Nick)
 * encourage students to interact with each other, not just the instructor (Nick)
 * provide a clearly labeled and colour-coded roadmap that the students can use to guide them through the course (Nick)
 * establish a ‘Drop-in” schedule advising the students when the instructor (or professor) will be available for online group-consultations and/or individual-consultations (Nick)
 * a note should also be included to let the students know that the “Drop-in” schedule is fixed, and that the instructor (or professor) could also drop-in at random times as well. (Nick)
 * Send out reminders of critical dates, via: the Message Board, text-messages, etc. (Nick)if class size increases, restructure discussion-based activities (Nick)
 * If the problem was with the discussion group only, I would initiate an assignment for marks. For example, I could start the course by having the students introduce themselves to the other students in the online course. (Nick)
 * Create a colour-coded "Roadmap," and place it in WebCT (Blackboard). This document would serve as a ‘roadmap’ to guide students through the course. The ‘Roadmap’ could include: signposts--to let them know that a pending project is due; mileage markers--to them gauge their progress; and billboards--to let them know they have reached certain milestones. (Nick)
 * Increase the level of interactivity through the use of different Web 2.0 type tools. Blogs, Wikis, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. (NIck)

4. Provide a sample statement or message that you might send to a student or group of students as a means of addressing this problem.
 * My records show that you have not participated in any of the discussion-related activities for the period . This puzzles me, because you have completed all of the other assigned work; and are doing extremely well. In fact, your work shows me that you have plenty of great ideas to contribute and share. So, perhaps you should be asking yourself: Why am I withholding (or not sharing) my ideas and knowledge with my classmates? After all, students enrolled in an online course depend upon each other to learn. I hope that this will help you to realize how important you are, and how important you are to your classmates. I trust that this will encourage you to participate in the upcoming discussions. However, if there is something that I am not aware of, please call me . Thank you. (Nick)

Nick, you've provided us with a pretty thorough list of remedies to the problem of lack of participation. These are some really great ideas! Clearly, the students in this situation aren't connecting with the course, with each other or with the instructor. This is a classic case of disengagement.

I'm not sure what else I can add here apart from may be adopting a more learner-centred approach that actively engages students.
 * 1) think about using more authentic assessments;
 * 2) provide learners with more opportunities to reflect on their learning (this is often a great way to receive informal feedback about your teaching)
 * 3) give them greater choice in the selection of assessments and assignments; perhaps make your assignments more challenging
 * 4) try to make the assignments more relevant learners' goals and expectations;
 * 5) not all discussion can be about the course and course contend, so provide greater opportunity and encourage social interaction and dialog between learners and yourself.

Conveying an active presence that's supportive and personable will also help a lot. These are just some ideas. It's interesting to note that just because a course is a-synchronous it may not necessarily be "learner-centered," so it's important to avoid an overemphasis on content, like Nick has suggested above. I think if you'd adopted a more learner-centered approach from the beginning, you might avoid the problem of disengagement.

In terms of a sample message or statement to send to students to address this problem, it would probably depend on whether or not the student(s) were doing well. If they're not completing the assignments or are borderline, then I would send them the standard message, "You could be doing better in this course. It's a good idea to participate and share your ideas with others to get feedback from the group. Contact me to find out how you're doing and how else you can improve." If they're doing well, I might write something like Nick's letter above. I could also add: "Based on your work to date, you've got some good ideas that you might like to share with everyone else. Or, for that, matter you might have some better ideas than the current owners on how to manage the Leafs." Assuming they're Leafs fans, of course. (Lazaros)

Hi Nick and Laz, I think you both have provided a thoughtful analysis of this situation. Both of your messages to students contain a positive approach to encouraging student participation. I think these statements would be helpful to a teacher experiencing this problem. Thanks for your great contributions. I look forward to more postings from the other members of this group. Cheers, Shirley

I think one of Nick's suggestions--clarify-- is a key issue when it comes to online participation. The students may not fully understand either the issues/content they're being asked to address, or even understand that they're meant to engage in discussion, rather than simply answer a list of questions. So, it's up to the instructor to be sure that once they post the weekly content--that they include clear direction on the discussion topic and how the discussions should operate.

If those things are clear, and students still aren't participating, I like to give them a friendly nudge in the form of one or two questions to consider--to give them a jumping off point--or post an article that relates to that week's material to get them chatting.

Here's my real-life example:

HI everyone, Things are pretty quiet on the Week 7 threads. You're probably taking some time to read the Sedaris essay--as you're reading, think about how he uses humour to keep his readers engaged, even though the story has deep undertones of anger and regret about his relationship with his father. How effective did you find that approach? Did the humour take away from some of the more serious themes?

(If that prompt fails, I would post a link to a recent NYT article --one that debates whether so-called everyday people should write memoirs (as opposed to celebrities or politicians)--to spark a broader discussion about memoirs/personal writing. Terri The need to clarify the source of the problem is a key point Terri. Maybe we should start by asking them why they are not participating? I think your message to the students provides an engaging invitation to them. Shirley

I would try some interactive activities to get the group to interact.[Icebrakers sould be used in the beginning so the students will be comfortable with each other]. I would remind the students that they will be marked on their participation and encourage them to let me know of any issues. I would also tell them that posting early in the week allows more interaction during the week before thir next discussion topic.

Comment To Class Class I would like to encourage discussion as I see very few postings on the discussion board. Good discussion helps broaden your understanding and consider other view points and ideas so it is important to participate I want each of you to post a brief comment on how you view the course to this point. Then state one question about what you have learned so far. Once you have done this go back to the postings and respond to one of your classmates questions but it must be a question no one else has answered. Remember that your participation on the discussion board is part of your course mark so it's time to get started! Looking forward to your discussion! Joyce

1. What, in your view, is the problem here? 2. What strategies will you use to address this problem? 3. What steps might have been taken to prevent this problem from occurring in the first place? > Clarifying objectives and outcomes of the activity for the students > (parisa) For clarification: 1-I can ask my students if anyone is expert in technology, or they have online learning experience; and they would like to help me. Although, some students may complain my teaching skills, my subject knowledge and teaching experience give me enough self-confidence to prevent students' complaining. 2-By organizing my teaching material (for example: assignment’s rubric), I can manage my time more efficiency. 3-Time pacing: I was thinking that Luz may have not writing communication skills as same as verbal skills (same as me), so if I were Luz I try to practice my writing skills and to pace the time at the same time to improve my velocity (time management by practicing my writing skills whenever I have to reply my students e-mail) (parisa) Mar,6th
 * Lack of communication between instructor and students
 * Poor guidance
 * Poor motivation
 * E-mail to students
 * Post a note to our class website (I prefer to address the problem by joke,quote or animation if it is possible, or same as you, posting a case study which the case address the problem by itself!)
 * Finding some motivation tools and sending them to students
 * Reducing the gap of communication between me and students
 * Using appropriate ice braker
 * Asking the students to do group activities or team assignments
 * Asking them to facilitate discussions by turn

2011 03 02

What is the problem.

1.Thank you for the previous analysis. It is hard to tell what the root cause of the problem is with little information. Basically what is needed is to increase participation in order to increase the value of the class.

2. What strategies will I use to address the problem of non participation.

I think knowing the little that we do and in addition to the statement addressed to the class( recommended above) that I would do the following. A. Invite learners to complete a survey monkey to respond to questions about what is working with the course thus far and what is not working and what WE can do differently. This will be an attempt to engage all learners.

B. I would try to contact students by telephone ( at least some of them ) post survey, to expand on ideas to obtain a more participatory environment.

C. IN addition I would create a temporary plan for engaging the class more significantly based on the ideas obtained from the survey and telephone calls.

D. Post course I would consider changing the course and grading strategy to add more marks to valued input from students.

3. What steps might have been taken to prevent this problem from occurring in the first place?

A. Having students complete a pre assignment questionnaire on their personal experience, interests, and challenges related to the course content.

Of course this in addition to everything that I have read so far, which I must say has been very thought provoking.

Paula Hacking

Hi Paula, I think your emphasis on trying to determine the reason for lack of participation would be a very good way to identify what appropriate actions need to be taken subsequently. Cheers, Shirley

1. What, in your view, is the problem here? · Student s might not be clear on the level of the importance of the discussion board in their course. · They might be used to the traditional style of teacher-centered classroom, so they just expect their teacher to be the main speaker. · May be it is their first on-line course and they suppose that they have to emphasize on their text books and written assignments.

2. What strategies will you use to address this problem? · From the very first session, I try to emphasize the importance of the on-line discussion board. I will clarify that a major portion of their final grade as well as their success in the course is based on their on-line participation. · I emphasize the significance of this portion of course in the welcome letter. · Time to time to I send reminder e-mails regarding the importance of this portion. · I do not limit myself to the communication through the virtual classroom; I will check with students through students’ e-mail accounts to make sure if there is anything that I can help them with (exactly like you Shirley; you sent me an e-mail to ensure that I was on the right track and offered me your support while I was not clear on some stuff). 3. What steps might have been taken to prevent this problem from occurring in the first place? · Clear communication regarding course expectations from the first session is the key to success in all aspects.

4. Provide a sample statement or message that you might send to a student or group of students as a means of addressing this problem. Hi ……,

I noticed that you have not joined the on-line discussion. I wanted to double check with you to see if there is anything that I can help you with. As you know, a substantial portion of the course grade is based on interaction among the learners. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any support in this regard.

Best Naghmeh