Discussions are a great way to check the mastery of concepts with students. Students have to show a certain level of knowledge in order to answer questions posted on the discussion board by the teacher. Discussion boards encourage social interactions among peers. Also, students who participate in discussion boards tend to have more success in the class because they read others posts and learn to thoughtfully respond. That helps them have a better understanding of the material as well.
As the instructor, it is important that we model good discussion board habits. We need to always respond to questions and make sure we are actually answering the question. We also need to continue to challenge our students by prompting them further with questions. We also need to encourage our students to make sure they are reading and responding to others posts. The instructor needs to consistently monitor the discussion board to make sure all students are participating and that all posts are relating to the topic at hand, not unrelated comments or personal attacks. Instructors must always give appropriate feedback. We do not want to tell a student they have done something correctly, when they have not. We have to pay close attention to everything that is being posted on the discussion board.
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