Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Rowena Santiago et al.
However, when converting from face-to-face to online format, group discussions, which are primarily
student-student interactions, are the most difficult activities to design and implement (as compared to
student-teacher or student-content interactions). Failure to provide effective group discussions in
online classes adversely impacts the quality of online teaching and student learning. It then becomes
necessary that faculty learn how to design online group discussions effectively and that efforts at
professional development or elaboration of course design and implementation be provided (Abrami,
et. al., 2008) so that instructors, in turn, can provide students with successful high-level thinking
experiences and increase the level of student engagement.
2. Purpose of the paper
The first part of this paper will present how a faculty learning community was formed and structured to
help faculty become better online instructors by learning collaboratively how to design effective online
group discussions. The second part will present the results of SoTL integration by one of the
members of the faculty learning community as part of the implementation of the class assignment on
online group discussion that was designed based on the guidelines generated by the faculty learning
community. Part Two results will include the improvements made to the original assignment activity as
a result of peer review, the implementation in class, the results of the student survey and reflections
for the next re-design.
3. Faculty learning communities (FLC)
A faculty learning community (or FLC) consists of faculty members from different disciplines who form
a group, with the purpose of learning together to enhance teaching and student learning. The group
engages in a series of activities (or curriculum) within an extended period of time (usually one year).
The use and effectiveness of faculty learning communities as a strategy for improving teaching skills
have been reported in the literature (Beach and Cox, 2009, Desrochers, 2010, SBCTC, 2006).
According to Cox (2004, p.18) who is a recognized leader in this field, FLC’s serve a bigger purpose
and achieve better outcomes in terms of faculty development because “a member of an FLC on any
topic will not only learn about that, but over the course of the year will design and implement it in a
focus course, with many opportunities to reflect with other FLC participants on its effectiveness and
the assessment of resulting student learning and feedback”.
4. FLC structure and methodology
The faculty learning community that was formed for online group discussions consisted of six (6)
faculty members from six different disciplines. The group met once every 3-4 weeks, from October to
May. FLC members engaged in a two-part process: (1) as a group, faculty learned how to design an
effective online group discussion, and (2) then, the resulting instructional design for online group
discussion (in the form of a class assignment) was implemented in individual courses.
The overall structure of the faculty learning community was designed to produce the following
deliverables:
Product: Development of an individual lesson design (or re-design) that incorporated the best
practices or principles of effective online group discussions to facilitate high-level thinking skills
and student engagement for a specific course goal. This was accomplished by generating a set of
guidelines based on (a) readings and discussion of relevant references (b) working with two
consultants as a group and individually, and (c) participating in an actual online group discussion
using Blackboard’s discussion forum.
Practice: Implementation in the classroom
Assessment: Evaluation of the effectiveness of the lesson design (or re-design) by doing a survey
of student learning experience
Report and Reflection: submission of a 500 to 600-word report that summarized the project, plus
a reflection section on how this will be used in future online classes
Dissemination: Presentation of the project in a department meeting
The overall structure for FLC-Part 1 is as follows: after sharing and discussing their concerns and/or
initial experiences in using online group discussions for teaching, FLC members worked with two
consultants and a set of curriculum materials (journal articles, books on the topic) to generate a set of
guidelines that incorporated the best practices or principles of effective online group discussions.
732