Hints for online course content development
A question with one right answer is not a "discussion question", even if the question is relatively complex and multipart. You're still going to get everyone answering the same way (or incorrectly), especially if you require the use of a specific source and disallow personal experience.
If you still feel the need to do it this way, don't require that people respond to another person's post. There's nothing to discuss. You're going to get sixty responses saying either "Great response!" or "You forgot this little nitpicky detail."
There's nothing really wrong with this sort of question - it's just not a discussion question. Either write a question that's appropriate for a discussion, or break the mold that says a message board posting in an online class must always consist of one original posting and two responses.
If you actually want to promote discussion and actual consideration of the topic, rather than regurgitation:
1. Provide a choice of discussion topics, or allow the students to choose one part of the subject to address so that not everyone is covering the exact same ground.
2. Allow students to do their own research, rather than requiring specific sources.
3. Include controversial issues, request personal opinions and experiences, and otherwise provide fodder for actual discussion.
4. Participate in the discussion yourself. An online instructor can still guide the discussion, just as in a classroom discussion, and a good instructor will do that. Provide your own insights. Give correction when people are providing information that runs contrary to the course teachings, as is likely to happen when the discussion is more open-ended.
I wish I could say that this post was prompted by a single instance of this type of question, but it seems to be more the rule than the exception in online courses I've taken from many different instructors, in many different subjects, at 3 different schools.
If you still feel the need to do it this way, don't require that people respond to another person's post. There's nothing to discuss. You're going to get sixty responses saying either "Great response!" or "You forgot this little nitpicky detail."
There's nothing really wrong with this sort of question - it's just not a discussion question. Either write a question that's appropriate for a discussion, or break the mold that says a message board posting in an online class must always consist of one original posting and two responses.
If you actually want to promote discussion and actual consideration of the topic, rather than regurgitation:
1. Provide a choice of discussion topics, or allow the students to choose one part of the subject to address so that not everyone is covering the exact same ground.
2. Allow students to do their own research, rather than requiring specific sources.
3. Include controversial issues, request personal opinions and experiences, and otherwise provide fodder for actual discussion.
4. Participate in the discussion yourself. An online instructor can still guide the discussion, just as in a classroom discussion, and a good instructor will do that. Provide your own insights. Give correction when people are providing information that runs contrary to the course teachings, as is likely to happen when the discussion is more open-ended.
I wish I could say that this post was prompted by a single instance of this type of question, but it seems to be more the rule than the exception in online courses I've taken from many different instructors, in many different subjects, at 3 different schools.