Mary Burkart Portfolio

The Introduction template asks new arrivals to the course to post the following:

PLEASE TELL US…

1. a little about your academic self–your current or intended field, career goals, etc.
2. your reasons for participating in this course, and what you would ultimately like to take away from it.
3. something about you as a person outside of academia (only what you are comfortable sharing).
4. post a photo or make a video or audio introduction (optional)

My guess is that students have a little blurb that they post time and again to their online courses.

BUT WHAT IF…

What if we re-imagine our Introduction Discussion?

GETTING A GREAT START

According to Tisha Bender in Discussion-based Online Teaching to Enhance Student Learning : Theory, Practice, and Assessment, “I think it is in both your and your students’ interests to design a first discussion topic that is so enticing, so intriguing, and so marvelous that they really do not want to miss out on it. In other words, by providing a meaningful challenge from the start, you are giving students an opportunity for engagement.” (Bender, 2012)

Bender has several suggestions for innovations for  starting Introduction Discussions that will help students engage in the course. She suggests you ask students to:

1. Discuss relevant experiences
2. Complete a sentence
3. Interview and introduce each other
4. Provide a hook
5. Write a short descriptive story about themselves

(Bender, 2012)

DISCUSS RELEVANT EXPERIENCES

Bender suggests that along asking students to introduce themselves, the the discussion should ask a questions that are relevant to the context of the course. For example, you may want to ask students about their writing experience in a writing class.

In a science class you may want to preview content that is authentic to students’ experience. For example, you could introduce students to the concept of the Golden Ratio and encourage them to share their own encounters with the Golden Ratio.

COMPLETE A SENTENCE

Bender also suggests starting a sentence and asking the student to finish it…

Consider the following sentence starters:

• I realized I wanted to be a nurse when…
• Of all the choices for general ed classes I picked this one because…
• I decided to major in political science because I was inspired by…

INTERVIEW AND INTRODUCE EACH OTHER

You might ask students to interview another student with with questions related to the course and present and introduction about the interviewee. (Bender, 2012)

PROVIDE A HOOK

You might use an ice breaker. Here are some ideas:

Ask students to post two truths and a lie and invite people to try to figure out which is the lie.

Ask student their pet peeves about discussion questions. This might help you tailor your questions in the course.

PLAY A GAME

One instructor asked students to choose eight nouns
that best describe themselves, and requested that each student write a short
paragraph to elaborate on these nouns. One advantage of this is that students can go back and reread the introductions as they encounter their classmates in other discussions. (Bender, 2012)

WRITE A SHORT DESCRIPTIVE STORY ABOUT THEMSELVES

One instructor “asked students to choose eight nouns that best describe themselves, and requested that each student write a short paragraph to elaborate on these nouns. One advantage of this is that students can go back and reread the introductions as they encounter their classmates in other discussions.” (Bender, 2012)

Bender also describe a story started she used.

‘‘When I was young, I traveled to [you fill in the location] and the most outstanding part of my visit was when I. . . .’’ I then went ahead and composed my story first, as a way to illustrate to students the scope and possibilities of this exercise. I wrote:
When I was young, I traveled to Lyons, France, to visit my French penpal,
and the most outstanding part of my visit was when I was foolish
enough to show off the few words of French that I knew to my pen-pal’s
mother, even though the words themselves were untrue.
I brashly said, ‘‘Je fais le regime!’’ (I am on a diet) at which this remarkable
French woman, robust and with a kitchen full of tempting ingredients,
declared, ‘‘Moi aussi!’’ and that started my two weeks of terrific
hunger. We would pass the boulanger, the windows full of baguettes and
croissants, brioches and tempting and beautiful pastries, and my mouth
would water. We would walk in the square, past the street market, and I’d
have to be dragged from the counters with slabs of paˆte´, delicately thin
sliced meats, frilly vegetables, and chocolate truffles. I would stare up at
the grand, ornate stone buildings, thinking only of how the two tranches
de jambon (slices of ham), which made up my entire dinner, made me feel
hungrier still. But one fine day we had a visit into the country, to see my
pen-pal’s grandmother, and she put before me a steaming bowl full of soft,
buttery, creamy pastina, and I will always remember how truly satisfying
that tasted.

THE CHALLENGE

How will you re-imagine your introduction discussion?

References

Bender, T. (2012). Discussion-Based Online Teaching To Enhance Student Learning: Theory, Practice, and Assessment. Sterling: Stylus Publishing, LLC.