A Learner-Centered Pedagogy to Facilitate and Grade Online Discussions in Writing Courses
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v5i2.269Keywords:
Taxonomy, discussion management, threaded discussion, learner centred pedagogy, discussion rubric, cognitive scaleAbstract
Taking a practitioner focus, I present the need for and features of a new learner-centered discussion pedagogy. The article begins with an analysis of the dynamics and difficulties of facilitating and grading online threaded discussions in writing classes. It demonstrates how De Nigris and Witchel’s (2000) concepts of the “WRITE” and the “WRONG” can be integrated into Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) to plan and create a discussion pool and tree that keeps students engaged as it moves them from lower to higher levels of learning. It further shows how the students’ progress on the cognitive scale and their timely, well thought out, and interactive participation can be encouraged and assessed. The discussion concludes with an examination of the advantages and feasibility of using the new, learner-centered discussion management pedagogy in graduate and undergraduate online and hybrid writing classes across universities and learning management systems.
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