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My goal was to enrich class discussion in a class of 45 students, and my strategy was to assign each student to make at least three (required but ungraded) postings. I divided the class up into three groups and for each group I announced in class several possible questions for debate or discussion to which they could respond over the next week. Most students made the required number of postings. The postings usually showed that the students HAD completed their assigned reading on that topic and had thought about the question, and some of the students' postings were outstanding. Some students found the e-mail assignments valuable and others did not; when I teach this course again next semester I plan to utilize some student suggestions for improvement, such as breaking the class into smaller groups to avoid repetitiveness on some of the issues; posting a written list of who's assigned to respond each week; assigning more specific, controversial questions to respond to; and discussing the questions in class. I believe that class discussion was enhanced by adding this e-mail component, and I hope that the fine-tuning and improvements I incorporate next semester will further enrich that class's conversation about World Religions.
A.
Goals:
My goal was to enrich class discussion in a class of 45 students:
first, to add to the limited amount of class time available for
discussion of topics of relevance and interest; and second, to
provide an opportunity for students who would not participate
orally in class discussion to participate electronically in these
e-mail conversations. I had articulated a secondary goal of using
the list serve to distribute revisions to syllabi, announcements
about pertinent campus lectures, etc.
B.
Strategy:
After helpful mentoring from Kathryn Tomasek, in the form of a
summer meeting and then via several electronic communications,
I decided to require each student to make a posting to the list
serve a minimum of four
times (and I didn't put much emphasis on encouraging them to respond
MORE than the minimum). I divided the class up into three groups
and for each group I announced in class several possible questions
for debate or discussion to which they could respond over the
next week (or sometimes two weeks). I gave them a handout asking
them to "respond thoughtfully to that question, respond to
a classmate's comment, or raise a provocative question of your
own about those ideas." Twenty percent of their grade was
attendance/participation, which included participation in class
discussion as well as participation in the e-mail discussion.
(The e-mail posts were required but ungraded.)
C.
Assessment:
The semester began with some technical difficulties; the list
serve was not up and running until the semester was well underway,
so my initial assignment of four posts had to be reduced to three.
(I'm sure that that circumstance resulted from a combination of
my waiting until too close to the beginning of semester to request
one and the high number of list serves needing to be set up.)
Also, some students found it difficult at first to subscribe,
though the students who had that complaint at the beginning eventually
got up and running with this list.
For the most part the rate of participation was as follows: of
45 students, 3 responded 4 times; 29 responded 3 times; 5 responded
2 times; 1 responded 1 time; and 7 responded 0 times. Their remarks
were of an appropriate length (usually 1 or 2 screens). Though
they varied in quality, as is always the case, almost all of them
reflected that the students HAD read the assigned text on that
topic; and a fair number of them reflected thoughtfulness and
insight about the questions.
The students' reviews of the e-mail section of the course were
mixed. Several found the postings helpful; others found them a
waste of time or an onerous burden. I just learned this week,
from conversations with students, of one unanticipated secondary
benefit: the e-mail postings helped them in their studying for
the final exam! (One student also said, earlier in the course,
that reading the postings helped her in her ongoing studying for
the course.) Semester's-end evaluations of the e-mail assignmments
gave me some helpful suggestions for improvement: breaking the
class into smaller groups to avoid repetitiveness on some of the
issues; posting a written list of who's assigned to respond each
week; assigning more specific, controversial questions to respond
to; and discussing the questions in class. Other students felt
there was no need for improvement; they were satisfied with the
amount of structure involved in the assignment (allowing them
leeway while giving them some guidance) and with the number of
postings required.
I must admit that I did not end up using the list serve very often
as a way to distribute announcements about syllabus revisions,
campus lectures, etc. Fortunately, this class had a quite good
attendance record so I was able to get those tidbits of information
across to them in the context of class.
I plan to offer this course next semester and to use the e-mail
assignments again. I will try to use it more faithfully as a way
of spreading the word about campus events, syllabus revisions,
etc. And I plan to take to heart and utilize the above-mentioned
students' suggestions for improvement.
To conclude my assessment, there were certainly students who never
felt comfortable participating in oral class discussion who DID
post to the list serve, and I'm glad they had that chance. And
most students did take advantage of the opportunity to pursue
some class discussion topics further via the e-mail discussion.
All in all, therefore, I believe that the goal of enhancing class
discussion WAS achieved. I hope that the fine-tuning and improvements
I incorporate next semester will further enrich that class's conversation
about World Religions.
D.
Dissemination outside Wheaton:
First, I will mention to friends and academic colleagues outside
Wheaton in a small-scale, informal way how this list serve worked
in my class, and I will hope for one-on-one conversations with
others where I can promote this strategy. I will also be on the
lookout for more formal opportunities to disseminate this pedagogical
use of technology, such as sharing my experience by participating
in panel discussions at professional meetings. Religious studies
professional meetings invariably have sections where pedagogical
issues are discussed, and I will pursue this option there.
Last updated
on 11/26/00;
Send questions about this page to: Barbara
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