Hi Nancy and Sue,
Similarly to Sue, I decided to try an online asynchronous online activity. It can feel limiting to not include synchronous, but it's the reality of many of our online courses at CapU, so I want to keep finding ways to support faculty within that format.
Scenario
Course in Organizational Behaviour (OB) taught online (asynchronously) in the Legal Admin Assistant program. A required course at the 100-level. May be their first experience in post-secondary, and their first online course.
The activity would happen during the first week of the course, and would follow some icebreaker/intro/community building activities.
Purpose
To clarify the purpose of our work together during the term (the big why of the course) by creating personal and shared connections to the field of OB.
Liberating Structure
Nine Whys
Draft Invitation
After reading the first chapter of the book, you will have an idea of some of the main concepts and purposes of OB. Given what you know so far, we want you to think about why OB might matter to YOU by answering the question:
How does OB relate to you/your work/life? And why is it important? [alternatively, How does learning about OB help you in your own life/career?]
How (the following is essentially the activity instructions in Moodle)
In order to get to what really matters, we are using a technique called the Nine Whys. Please follow the instructions below:
By Tuesday:
- Write one paragraph answering the question: How does OB relate to your work/life?
- Once you have your paragraph, ask yourself: Why is this important to me?
- Continue to ask yourself this question nine times (Why is this important to me?) and record your answer each time (nine times, just keep going!). Dig deeper, and keep answering from as many angles as you can think of.
- Post your answers (your paragraphs and nine whys) in your group’s forum
By Wednesday:
5. Reply to one group member’s post (someone who doesn’t yet have a reply), commenting on commonalities or insights based on your own and your group member’s nine whys.
Thursday-Friday:
6. As a group, create a story using only 6 words (6-word story) that summarizes your insights and shared connection to the field of OB. Add your story to this Padlet[link] (due end of day Friday). You may work with your group in any way you prefer (use the forum, live chat, google docs…)
Post-activity:
- Facilitator/instructor summarizes insights from all groups on a Padlet (model this practice so that students might do this later in the course)
- Students reflect in personal learning journals: How do your insights from this activity influence how you approach this course. What is one or two goals you want to set for yourself for this course? How will you make sure you stay true to what’s important to you?
Questions I’m pondering:
- How easy to follow are these instructions?
- I think I may need to visualize the nine whys – maybe even provide a “worksheet”
- I’m considering using FlipGrid (video dialogue tool) for the individual student submissions. This may work well for some and not for others. Perhaps I give them the option to choose.