This is an interesting discussion! In terms of your last point Chris, about
contributing to online discussions, I too struggle with this. As both an avid
user of online discussion communities and a distance learning student I have
seen both sides of the online discussion debate. In my social uses of forums to
post questions and debate I feel very comfortable and in control and I guess
*authoritative* about what I am posting about (rubbish car drivers and cloth
nappies mainly ;-)) whereas participating in the MEd discussion forums was a
daunting and intimidating experience and one where I didn't feel comfortable at
all. I recently did some basic research into this on my social forums and asked
people why they felt comfortable contributing to those types of discussion but
phrased the question as I would an academic one and hardly anyone replied. When
I re-posted it as a single sentence it attracted a lot more replies.

I wonder if we need to think about how people engage in online discussions and
what the 'rules of engagement' are in terms of length of question, perceived
difficulty of topic, a need to see someone else debate what is happening etc. I
think the very nature of an online discussion appears too formal for many
students who are reluctant to commit their ideas to text when that stays as a
record whereas they can whisper a comment to a friend that vanishes into the
ether and doesn't appear to be as formal. I hope I am making sense! And sorry
for going off on a tangent and away from reading, but I think the pressure to
show some academic evidence in these types of discussions might be why students
don't contribute. And it doesn't matter how many times we tell the students it
can be as informal as they like they don't believe us! But obviously that
doesn't address the issue of not doing the reading...

Back onto the reading aspect and I wonder here how to increase the confidence of
students and their reading... I ran an hour long session yesterday on expressing
fact and opinion and using quotes to enhance their argument which focused on
looking at the differences between facts, supported opinions and unsupported
opinions. The students told me they found it an incredibly valuable session as
for the first time someone had explicitly told them what they needed to do, how
to do it and helped them practise with a number of examples. I was worried
before the session it would be pitched too low (e.g. one exercise looks at
rating a number of statements as either facts or opinions: milk comes from
cows, milk tastes good, milk is essential for healthy bones etc) but the
examples seemed to give the students something concrete to latch on to that
they could then apply to more abstract concepts. I know from my own experience
I only really got the confidence to critically discuss texts when I started my
Masters. And it's usually very hard to shut me up ;-)

Becka

--
Becka Currant
Senior Adviser
Learner Development Unit
University of Bradford
Tel: 01274 236821
Mob: 07917 241214 (internal 1739)
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.brad.ac.uk/lss/learnerdevelopment



Quoting Christine Keenan <[log in to unmask]>:

> Dear Kate and all
>
> It is so disappointing when you've put a lot of energy and thought into a
> seminar and really explained to students why it is beneficial to all they
> have to do is do the reading, and you arrive on the day and find a room full
> of people who don't even know what the topic is. I teach interpersonal
> communication, which is built on everyday interactions. The seminars build
> on what happens in the lectures. For example, we have a lecture on
> attribution theory and the seminar is based around a paper by Geoffrey
> Beattie, carefully chosen as he's the "pop" psycholgist on Big Brother (so
> recognisable to the students), that looks at how people draw on theories of
> attribution in their discussion of rape. It is pointless if they have not
> read the paper, as it is perfect in a) terms drawing on classic theories
> (Kelley) in recent research and of b) critique (design of research) etc etc
> in an application to a topical and c) always a relevant topic. and I
> thought about getting students to build a learning diary to reflect on the
> lecture that week, to observe what is going on around them, how they and
> others behave, and find examples to illustrate their thinking from TV, Big
> Brother, soaps etc., to enhance the discussion. Unfortunately, or otherwise,
> my seminars are not assessed formally, and so this just doesn't work.
> Students do, in fact, wing it. We get some reasonable discussion going, but
> it tends to be much too anecdotal.
>
> Even worse, I have set up an on line discussion for my students to "talk" to
> Prof Peter Hartley. My students often cite his text in their assignments,
> and he's visiting Bournemouth next week to give a guest lecture for us,
> particularly on the topic of the new edition of his book, ie he set the scene
> and asked for comments. I set the expectation up last autumn, by telling the
> students this was going to happen and to think about it whilst they were
> reading his book, and reminded them several times since. I set up the
> discussion and Peter invited students to make comments, contribution, etc.
> Not one of my students has responded. I even emailed them all and said give
> me your comment if you're nervous about doing it yourself, and I'll post it
> for you. Still no response.
>
> I am not someone who is cynical about students, I feel that I have some
> understanding of first year experience etc etc, but it is disappointing that
> not only won't they read ahead, even when you make it easy for them by
> providing the handouts, but, they won't even engage in a conversation with a
> visitor who has made clear his interest in their views.
>
> Chris
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: learning development in higher education network on behalf of Kate
> Smith
> Sent: Tue 27/02/2007 16:22
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Motivating students to read
>
>
>
> Dear All
>
>
>
> One issue that lecturers have brought up several times at our PG Cert. in
> Learning and Teaching in HE sessions and in informal discussion is the
> difficulty in getting some students to 'do the reading' before they attend
> seminars and how their failure to do this impacts on their
> ability/willingness to participate. We would like to focus on this issue in
> next week's session with lecturers. I have pasted below an example of the
> kind of advice that I have given and would be interested in your comments and
> further suggestions, including references of any articles or books that
> tackle this issue well.
>
>
>
> "My suggestions would be to design the seminar activity so that students need
> to have completed the reading to be able to take part. You might randomly
> select individuals to present a 1 min summary of their corporate report so
> that they need to do the preparation - this experience would be enough to
> encourage some students to do the work to avoid having to 'wing it' again.
> Students generally don't like to be seen to be letting each other down so if
> they were working in groups and some hadn't done the prep necessary to
> complete the group task this might serve to highlight that they are letting
> fellow students down. These interventions aren't intended to humiliate
> individuals, just make the prep necessary and purposeful. If it isn't, why do
> it? It may put some students off coming to the seminar if they haven't
> prepared, but that is a different issue.
>
>
>
> Also, are you sure that they know what is expected and are able to carry out
> the task? You might ask them to check. You might also re-state the
> expectations of the seminar/module or negotiate what they need to prepare in
> order for you to run a useful session and establish a contract letting them
> know that this prep is their responsibility. Have you asked the group in
> general why they haven't done the prep? E.g. "It's clear that some of you
> haven't prepared for this session by.... I'm interested to know why that is."
> Then negotiate accordingly, if at all.
>
>
>
> Finally, do those who have done the work feel their effort is valued, are
> they thanked for their contribution? If the session is sabotaged by those
> (majority or minority?) that haven't done the prep, those that have won't
> bother in future, unless you make their effort worthwhile by rewarding them
> with a session that allows them to make use of their prep."
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
> Kate
>
> Kate Smith
> Education Development Projects Manager
> Learning and Teaching Development Unit
> Ext. 65801
> http://intranet.brunel.ac.uk/ltdu/
>
>
>

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