Steve DeLoach, Associate Professor of economics, published the paper, “Effectively Moderating Electronic Discussions,” in the most recent issue of the Journal of Economic Education. The paper was co-authored by Steven Greenlaw of the University of Mary Washington. This is the third in a series of papers the two have published on using electronic discussion boards to teach critical thinking.
Abstract: Although instructors are increasingly using electronic discussions with both traditional and online classes, little has been written about how to best moderate these discussions. Moderating online discussions requires tremendous skill. As with in-class discussions, the primary goal of the moderator is to ensure that the discussion continually makes progress toward more advanced critical thinking. Because of this, moderator comments should be limited to helping students make the transitions associated with increasing cognitive complexity rather than leading them to predetermined answers. Building on the existing literature on both in-class and online discussions to teach critical thinking, the authors develop concrete strategies that can be used to make discussions more productive.