On Writing Effective Online Discussion Questions

Yesterday, Professor Peterson pointed me in the direction of an article co-authored by former SLIS faculty member Diane Neal on the topic of composing effective discussion board questions. In "CREST+ Model: Writing Effective Online Discussion Questions," Neal and co-author Lynn Akin propound a method for coming up with good questions. Basically, as I read it, the model calls for instructors to take into account cognitive learning needs of students, desired learning outcomes, course readings, and students' experiences, all the while varying the styles and types of questions asked. If you're having trouble sparking vibrant virtual classroom discussions, this brief paper is well worth a read. While you're at ti, you may well wish to go ahead and check out other (free) offerings from the journal in which it was published, the Journal of Online Teaching and Learning.