Turnitin.com Discussion Board Tip
17 09 2007For those of you fortunate enough to have Turnitin.com (or ‘TII’ as I call it) at your school, here’s a simple tip to make using the discussion boards (they’re part of every class, and completely controlled by the teacher). My American Government students post analyses of news articles, and respond to the posts of their classmates, every two weeks. I ask them make a brief case for how the article directly ties to what we’re studying in class during that two-week period — it’s a great formative assessment of whether or not they’re getting the material, and can make the critical connection between content & reality.
Anyway, since TII embeds a discussion board in each class, I already have a user list, and they then post their thoughts, along with the article title & URL, and we’re off and running — it’s a nice asymmetrical discussion going on over a two-week period, but directly tied to what we’re studying in class at the same time.
My News Journals, as I call them, are due every two weeks — and since I set the due dates way in advance, all I need to do in TII is take about 10 minutes and I can set up all the journals for the entire semester at once. I set all the open and close dates for all the two-week journals, and I don’t have to worry about them after that — the system opens & closes the boards automatically. I did this last year and it worked perfectly — I actually ended up putting in all the journal windows (or whatever you might call them) for the entire school year…it took me about 30 minutes, and I didn’t give it another thought for the rest of the year. All I had to do was drop in periodically on the board that was open to weigh in with my thoughts, and check each open board a few times a week to assess & assign grades. Easy stuff, and it built a habit for the kids.
jdg
Thanks for your comment on my blog.
Sounds like you’re doing some interesting things with your American Government class. Do you find that having students comment on each other’s analyses on the blog leads to more thoughtful writing?
David –
Early in the year my students have a hard time making valuable comments on each others’ posts, but that changes as time passes. I make sure to drop comments of my own on specific posts, and on the overall flow of a discussion related to one story or another, so as to guide the discussion. I have to do less of this as time passes, however, as the students become both better informed about the news, and more comfortable about the notion & process of thinking about others’ work.
What it definitely provides me is a solid formative assessment of whether or not they are understanding what we’re studying in class in a given week. And it gives me something to build on for class discussions. The students get a jolt when I bring up their article as a good example, and we then spend part of a class using it as a vehicle to explore some concept or another. I’d like to think it helps them see the connections between the content & reality.
jdg
As a graduate student using turnitin in one of my classes, I can say that it does get easier to use the application as the term progresses. Discussions are better and comments more meaningful. Even graduate students can learn a lesson or two about time management, dedication, and responsibility when they are required to participate in an online discussion board outside of class. I personally have found it easier to give honest evaluations and assessments of other student’s work.
I see how turnitin discussion boards could provide good formative assessment for instructors, as long as they create meaningful, thought provoking guiding questions to lead discussions.
Thanks for the comment — TII’s been great, and I’ve changed how and when I use it in my classes. I’d be interested in seeing how your program manages it for student use, overall.
jdg