Documentation:Supporting Critical Thinking Online/Example: In Practice

Example: In Practice

Engaging Learners in Online Discussion

Assuming you have already considered the role of discussion in helping learners meet the course objectives, you'll want to follow that up with good questions. Questions are at the heart of the critical thinking process and responding to good questions promotes learning.

Good discussion questions are generally open-ended and exploratory in nature, often requiring learners to apply and integrate information from multiple resources, including prior life experiences. Good questions may also be provocative and can be looked at from multiple perspectives.

McMaster University offers some tips for developing good inquiry questions

Penn State University offers some good strategies for online discussion.

University of Waterloo provides some ideas for promoting inquiry through discussion and group work.