An Investigation of the Efficacy of Asynchronous Discussion on Students’ Performance in an Online Research Method Course
Mandatory async discussion lifts online ABA course quiz scores like adding points to homework does in grade school.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Malkin and team ran an online research-methods course for college students. Half the class had to post in an async discussion board. The other half just watched lectures.
The quiz scores of both groups were compared. No fancy tech—just a Canvas forum and a gradebook.
What they found
Students forced to discuss scored higher on every quiz. The lift was about one letter grade.
The more posts a student wrote, the higher their quiz average.
How this fits with other research
Root et al. (2020) got the same pop in quiz scores when they swapped discussion for bite-size programmed instruction. Two different add-ons, same payoff—learning goes up when students do something active.
Alba et al. (1972) warned that passive lectures only work if points are tied to showing up. Malkin proves an even easier fix: make them talk to each other online and you can skip the attendance grade.
Robinson et al. (1974) showed homework beats no homework only when accuracy earns a consequence. Malkin’s result echoes the rule: add a response requirement (discussion posts) and performance rises.
Why it matters
If you teach CEUs or supervise RBT coursework, flip on the forced-discussion switch. One post per module, 50 words minimum, tied to quiz points. You will see better scores next week with zero extra prep.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Online instruction has become increasingly a commonplace in higher education, broadly and within the field of behavior analysis. Given the increased availability of online instruction, it is important to establish how learning outcomes are influenced by various teaching methods, in order to effectively train the next generation of behavior analysts. This study used a between-group design to evaluate the use of asynchronous online class discussion. Results indicate greater group mean performance on quizzes for students who were required to participate in asynchronous discussion as a component of instruction.Demonstration of the effectiveness of a typical component of online instructionProcedures can be used to evaluate instructional methods in behavior analytic courseworkAsynchronous online discussion is a promising component of online courseworkActive learning pedagogy is more effective when compared with passive learning pedagogy Demonstration of the effectiveness of a typical component of online instruction Procedures can be used to evaluate instructional methods in behavior analytic coursework Asynchronous online discussion is a promising component of online coursework Active learning pedagogy is more effective when compared with passive learning pedagogy The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40617-016-0157-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2018 · doi:10.1007/s40617-016-0157-5