"Deep" thoughts
do mandatory online activities help students leave surface-learning behind?

In an online course, participation may take the form of a blog, discussion forum, or other medium. Such participation may be entirely optional, encouraged, or required. Instructors sometimes mandate a style of participation—such as to have students post their thoughts and then iteratively read and comment on other students' responses—or even offer illuminating examples of both thoughtful and less compelling "me too" posts.

While online instructors can mandate certain behaviors, they can't force students to learn. We all operate under the assumption that a carefully crafted assignment increases the likelihood of learning. And given the online world's lack of traditional communication channels, many instructors require student participation in hopes of increasing accountability and engagement. But does any of this help an unmotivated student learn?

A helpful framework for thinking about this problem is the deep vs. surface learning distinction. As learners, we are always deciding whether to adopt a deep or superficial approach to completing assignments. As instructors, we naturally prefer, hope, and even imagine that our students will always adopt a deep learning strategy, sucking the marrow from the toughest assignments. Yet, as current or former students, we know we often fall short of this ideal, choosing instead to cram for the test or skim the readings, spending as little time and effort as we can to achieve the grade we hope to receive. This distinction applies equally well to corporate e-learning, where an employee may just do the minimum necessary to achieve a certification or check off the compliance item, then quickly shed any concepts or skills picked up along the way. Faced with busy, efficiency-oriented students, we must accept that a student's choice of a deep or surface-learning strategy is beyond our control. Yet, we can be glad that the student's choice is often open to our influence. An online instructor can increase the likelihood that students will choose a deep learning strategy through these approaches:

• Be transparent in your own deep engagement with the course content. Are you still a learner yourself? Do you still care? In an online environment, you have to find new ways to make your enthusiasm contagious. If you're committed to being the "guide by the side" rather than the "sage on the stage," share your own experiences, insights, and passion for learning as part of that guidance.
• Make sure your course is well organized, paced, and communicated. Otherwise students can become disappointed, discouraged, or frustrated—even cynical—which can lead to surface approaches to learning.
• Develop activities that are authentic—that feel more real than contrived, and that feel important and relevant to the student. Where possible, let real-world constraints and evaluation play a part, such as when a group of students works with a real client to solve an actual problem.
• Let students have some choice so that they can increase the relevance and authenticity of course activities and have more control over and ownership of the learning process. Choice may apply to the selection of course readings, or the type and topic of assignments.
• Select activities that cannot be completed without application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Challenge shallow responses early so you can raise the standard of discourse.

Authors

Lisa Neal is Editor-in-Chief of eLearn Magazine and an e-learning consultant.

Mark Notess is a system development manager and usability specialist for the Digital Library Program at Indiana University.

©2006 ACM  06/0500

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