Creating Good Discussion Prompts
Instructions for helping eLearning Faculty and Designers
Description: This paper is provided to instructional designers to instruct them regarding a method for writing good discussion prompts. Often, instructional designers and faculty when instructed to make discussion prompts are only told to provide “open-ended questions.” While being open-ended is one characteristic of questions that prompt good discussion, it isn’t the only one. This paper attempts to remedy that by provide a method that improve the likelihood that prompts will generate discussion, so important to distance education and e-learning.
My Roles/Contributions: This information is based on research I conducted at University of Phoenix, though this representation was done for instructional designers at Salt Lake Community College. I worked out the (instructional design), and wrote the text (writing).
Instructional Details: This guide provides examples (marked with a “✔”) and non-examples (marked with an “Χ“), all of which are based on the same basic questions (about the Civil War). My thinking was that using variations of the same example would be more helpful in distinguishing the differences.
Writing Details: Written in a cross between an academic style and an instructional one, because of the audience. The layout of the paper was intended to highlight the examples.