Designing a Small Discussion Board Assignment Fit for an Age of Online Discussion
By Justin Robertson, City University of Hong Kong
In this model, discussion boards are kept to five sessions to maximize their impact. Three discussion boards are launched after the corresponding classes and two discussion boards are run beforehand. Students engage in different thinking processes:
• conducting an interview
• reading a key author’s work and applying their ideas
• completing a simulation
• undertaking an assessment of a policy measure
• making a recommendation on an organization’s strategy
By adopting set roles, these discussion boards represent a training ground in which students develop their ability to participate in intellectual conversations online, learn to comment better, work through ideas, develop interests and practice short-form writing.
The Journal of Political Science Education is an intellectually rigorous, path-breaking, agenda-setting journal that publishes the highest quality scholarship on teaching and pedagogical issues in political science. The journal aims to represent the full range of questions, issues and approaches regarding political science education, including teaching-related issues, methods and techniques, learning/teaching activities and devices, educational assessment in political science, graduate education, and curriculum development.