Rewarding learners for their participation?

In online learning programmes, a great deal of the learners’ learning process is often made explicit through learners’ contributions to discussion forums. Many tutors choose to assess learners on their contributions to discussion forums, as a compulsory component of a course assignment. These tutors allocate some of the assignment marks to learners’ postings, and believe that some of the benefits of doing so are as follows:

• By allocating marks to learners’ contributions to discussion forums you can ensure dramatically higher rates of participation on discussion forums than would happen if participation were voluntary.   

• By including a stage in the assignment which involves asynchronous group discussion, you are building in a collaborative element to the assignment, enabling learners to share their knowledge, ask questions of one another, and give each other critical feedback. 

• Learners see that you value the process leading up to the writing of their individual assignments; not just the product. This is a reflection of the way in which knowledge is often generated in the real world – at work, or elsewhere outside of formal learning institutions. Discussions, arguments and the sharing of ideas are central to the growth and development of knowledge in society.

Note: It's not a good idea to allocate marks for activities at stages 1 and 2 in the learning process. While learners are still struggling with issues related to accessing the technology and socialising with the group, they do not need the extra pressure associated with getting marks for performance.

Reflection

Have you tried allocating marks to learners' contributions to the discussion forum? What was the result?

If you have not tried this approach, how do you think it might work in your courses? What do you think might be the benefits and barriers for your learners?

If you are still wondering how you might implement such an approach, see the case study in the following section for some ideas.