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Some colleagues from Tel Aviv University are carrying out interesting research on the use of e-discussion forums in higher education. Those of you who are using e-forums are encouraged to consider participating in their study. Mark
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From: Menucha Birenbaum <mbiren@post.tau.ac.il>
Subject: e-forum
usage
Dear Colleague,
If you are an instructor in higher/tertiary education and use electronic discussion forums in your courses, please read the following.
We are studying the various ways in which e-discussion forums can be incorporated into teaching in higher education and their impact on the teaching-learning process. We would very much appreciate it if you would be willing to share with us your experience in incorporating e-forums in your courses by answering the following questions. Please note that the questions are sometimes detailed, but a yes/no type of question would not help us learn the intricacies of the e-forum usage. Upon completion of the study we will be glad to share our findings with you.
You can send us your answers by replying to this email or by sending a
Word document to the following e-mail address:
mbiren@post.tau.ac.il
If you have colleagues who use the e-forum as part of their course curriculum, we would appreciate your passing on this questionnaire to them.
Thanking you in advance for your cooperation.
Menucha Birenbaum, Ph.D.
School of Education
Tel-Aviv
University, Israel
http://www.tau.ac.il/~mbiren/
Rose A. Feldman, Coordinator of Computer Services
Faculty of the
Arts
Tel-Aviv University, Israel
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
(If you use an e-forum in more than one
course, please refer to the course where you make the most intensive use of the
e-forum.)
Course topic/area:
Course level (introductory/advanced):
Course
type (lecture/seminar/PBL):
Number of registered students:
Course
status (required/elective):
Is this a virtual - distance learning
course?
How long have you been using e-forums in your classes?
What is
the rate of use of e-forums in courses in your department?
2. AIMS OF INCORPORATING E-FORUMS INTO YOUR COURSE
What pedagogical goals do you intend the e-forum to achieve?
3. WAYS OF INCORPORATING E-FORUM INTO YOUR COURSE
a) INSTRUCTOR'S ROLE
How do you integrate the e-forum into your
course? How does the e-forum complement other course elements?
How do you present the e-forum to the students? Do you provide them assistance in moderating on-line discussions? If so, how?
What responsibilities do you and your teaching assistants assume in the e-forum?
How often do you or your teaching assistants read and respond to students' postings in the forum?
How do you promote effective participation in the e-forum?
b) STUDENTS' ROLE
Do you require all students to participate
actively in the e-forum? If so, how many times during the course?
If participation is voluntary, what is the percentage of students in the course that actively participate in the e-forum?
Do you assign the moderation of the discussion to various students or ask for volunteers?
How many students participate in the e-discussions above the minimum course requirement?
c) POSTINGS
Do you give special assignments for the e-forum? If so,
how are they different from class assignments? Are they credit assignments?
Is students' participation in the e-forum weighted as part of the their course grade? If so, how is it assessed?
In addition to the use of the e-forum, do you incorporate the use of journal writing? If so how?
4. EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE E-FORUM
How well did the e-forum accomplish your pedagogical goals? What are the advantages and disadvantages you find in using e-forums?
What impact did the e-forum have on your teaching?
What impact did it have on your students' learning? (Do you feel that using e-forums contributed to the improvement of students' skills and achievement compared to the same or similar course where e-forums were not used? If so, in what respect?)
How did your students feel about the e-forum?
5. TIPS TO INSTRUCTORS WHO PLAN TO IMPLEMENT E-FORUMS IN THEIR COURSES
What guidelines would you offer to help increase the effectiveness of e-forums?
We would greatly appreciate any additional comments or ideas you would like to share with us.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thanking you again,
Menucha Birenbaum, Ph.D.
School of Education
Tel-Aviv
University, Israel
Rose A. Feldman, Coordinator of Computer Services
Faculty of the
Arts
Tel-Aviv University, Israel
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