Collaborative Problem Solving in an Online Course -- Attempting the Impossible?
The emphasis on engaging students in an online course through discussion has me questioning whether or not online is the appropriate format for most mathematics courses. One of the themes of Bolt 101 has been about how to make an online course more than just a correspondence course. It seems like the most natural format for having students engage with each other is to have them first engage with the content and then to engage with each other via discussion about the content. However, 'discussion' in my courses often looks more like collaborative problem solving and that's enough of a difference that I am struggling with figuring out how to translate it to an online setting.
In my face to face courses, this collaborative problem solving usually takes place when students are first interacting with content and there's not a lot of (formal) discussion after they've solved the problem. Ideally, I'd like to mimic this and have students work through lessons together so they can bounce ideas off of each other while they're in the process of learning. However, I just can't figure out what that looks like in an online course where they're not all working on the lesson at the same time.
Likely, I need to just step back and find a different way of doing things in an online course. Maybe the day to day stuff does look like a correspondence course where they watch video lectures and then do an online homework set, but then each module has a group project that the students work on together? Definitely something I need to keep thinking about before offering a course completely online.
In my face to face courses, this collaborative problem solving usually takes place when students are first interacting with content and there's not a lot of (formal) discussion after they've solved the problem. Ideally, I'd like to mimic this and have students work through lessons together so they can bounce ideas off of each other while they're in the process of learning. However, I just can't figure out what that looks like in an online course where they're not all working on the lesson at the same time.
Likely, I need to just step back and find a different way of doing things in an online course. Maybe the day to day stuff does look like a correspondence course where they watch video lectures and then do an online homework set, but then each module has a group project that the students work on together? Definitely something I need to keep thinking about before offering a course completely online.
Melissa, I can see how having online discussions in a math course would be difficult. Perhaps an exploration of the "philosophy of math" would generate some good discussion, during the first and/or final week of the course - students talking with each other about how they will use math in real situations, what sorts of moral or theological implications are present in mathematical spheres (e.g. statistics and their use).
ReplyDeleteI have some of the same difficulties imagining what kind of "work" we could do in a music performance class. We certainly need to be f2f for our rehearsal and performance - that is the very nature of collaborative music. Can there be an extension of this somehow in an online setting (beyond listening to recordings of some of our repertoire)? Can we discuss online the philosophical or theological implications of our work together? Maybe...
Ryan, you make an excellent suggestion which I think will work well in statistics. Thanks for the helpful feedback!
DeleteMy frustration last week mostly came from thinking about how to offer calculus online and most of the ways I thought about engaging students in discussion felt like they'd be pasted on as an afterthought. Short term, I 'm going to hit pause on thinking about calculus online, and more forward full steam with accelerated intro statistics which I think will work well online.