Discussion Bored: The Use of Scenarios in On-Line Classes

Picture this –a dead guy in an alleyway. His body is partially hidden behind a Dumpster. There are obvious signs of blunt trauma injury to the victim’s head and he is barely clothed. A woman, living in one of the two apartment buildings that border the alley, sees the body and calls 911. You are the first officer to arrive on the scene. What steps will you take to secure the scene? What evidence will you collect? What tests will you run? How are you going to interact with the rest of your investigative team? What will the autopsy reveal?

Recently, I designed and proctored a course on Death Investigation. In consideration of what could be done with a course where the students cannot have actual hands-on experience or be together physically to interact, something was needed to engage them. An on-line course management system gives us a discussion board, but I had yet to see a course where there was true interaction and real discourse in this forum.

The word ‘discussion’ denotes a conversation on the pros and cons of a given subject and yet, the use of discussion boards in Internet classrooms is very rarely used in a way that encourages dialogue. And although on-line classes are certainly convenient for students, they do not engage students. My experience, as a student taking on-line classes, has proven to me that there must be a better way. If you have taught, designed, written or proctored an on-line course, it has been proven to you as well. Interaction between students means enthusiasm – it means success. Even more, interaction means that your students are assimilating information that you are teaching.

Most discussion boards are utilized as a way to distribute weekly quizzes, to pass along extraneous information, or to attempt group work. Until Death Investigation, I had not seen an on-line course that could satisfactorily pull off group work. Agonizing over the design of the course, wanting desperately to give the students a fulfilling educational experience as well as have them involved in what they were learning, I finally decided to give them a corpse. Yep, a dead guy in an alleyway! It was a splendid success. Some evaluations from students were: “I would recommend this course to a friend because even though it was an online course, the level of interaction made me feel very connected to other students and the instructor.” Another student said,” I do not usually speak up in class. I have found myself interacting more in this class.” The scenario was the catalyst.

How can you apply a scenario to your course? Follow the steps, use your creative mind, and don’t be afraid to work hard for success.

N Chose your textbooks wisely. They should be current, engaging, and well written. These are your foundation

N Create a basic scenario.

N Create a notebook or journal for your students to track their progress.

N Inject clues or hints weekly.

N Interact with your students – answer their questions promptly.

N No fudging – if they want to know about auto upholstery, go find out. You will both learn.

N Praise them when they prove their enthusiasm.

N Don’t be afraid to tell the truth, make a mistake, or use your sense of humor.

N Research, research, research. Extraneous material is important if it’s connected.

N Most important – Decide before you begin what you feel is essential for the student to learn. Your goals should include: Understanding, Assimilation and Application (Critical Thinking).

To begin, the split the class into two groups and named them – Livor Mortis and Rigor Mortis. The groups were then given our gruesome, mangled dead guy and a minimum of information – the scenario. The goal, for the students then was to discover who the dead guy was, what had happened to him, who had committed the crime, and so on. I added an incentive by making it a contest between Livor Mortis and Rigor Mortis – the winner receiving extra credit points and a little trophy for the department’s Criminology case.

Each week, the groups would be given a tad more information – just a tad. From this, the students had to; or more precisely, they were able to utilize the material that they were reading in their texts. In the beginning, it was apparent how much TV and trashy novels our students had been exposed to. They wanted a profiler right away. They were arresting anybody and everybody. The demanded search warrants for everyone and everything without the slightest bit of probable cause. The U.S. Constitution was thrown directly out a window. It was really humorous. And it felt completely out of control. The groups had to be reminded that they were not ready for a profiler to be brought in, nor did they have the funds – and that they were not in Miami-Dade and this was not CSI. However, as the weeks passed, the students began to understand and assimilate the material they were being presented from their text and apply it to the scenario. They began to appreciate how to work with each other.

In the second week, an Investigator’s Notebook was created and given to the students. It was then their responsibility to print it out and utilize it to track their case. Test results, evidence, witnesses and other pertinent information went into the notebook.

In addition to the scenario, the students were given a video clip or pictures to view on a topic connected to our course. For example, they were given a website containing the crime scene photos of the (Lizzie) Borden murders. They were asked to view the photos and, based on what they saw, give an opinion about whether or not they believed the perpetrator to be a stranger or someone the Bordens knew. The most lively discussion board question of this nature was one that involved two short video clips on the subject of prison rape and a seventeen-year-old boy who had committed suicide as a result of continued abuse.

Each week’s discussion board was concerned with one topic question that brought a real life situation to the material and the continuing scenario. The students were required to make an intelligent response to the first question of two paragraphs or more, to make a substantial contribution statement to the scenario and respond to at least two other students. Most responses that students posted were in reference to the scenario, however, as in the case of the prison rape material, there were responses to comments that were quite impassioned and thoughtful.

For a scenario, you may want to develop it yourself or use a case study. I would caution against something that the students could get a hold of easily (that would be no fun at all). For the extra material, there are many sites that had several short video clips – CourtTV, HBO, and so on. Focus your research to correlate to your reading material. For instance, the prison rape material was a specific website dealing with this issue and was connected to the two chapters we were assigning that week – Rape and Homosexual Homicide. The library, the Internet, other instructors, students, and I-Media are all excellent sources of information and valuable help.

What is important for the students to gain from this experience is a critical issue when you decide whether a scenario is right for your course. Do you want to ensure that your students are spewing out responses that are grammatically correct or of the required length? Do you want the students to answer correctly? The primary concern in Death Investigation was to get these students involved in what they were learning. The responses that were posted on our discussion board were a mish-mash of horrible grammar, little punctuation, and run-on sentences. No matter, they were engaged! These students were effectively thinking. And they were having fun!

I realize that it goes against the grain to not ask that your students give you aptness – it is up to you, as instructors, to reevaluate just where you want that aptness – in grammar, or in thought.

While you are considering what it is you want your students to come away with in the use of a scenario, consider this as well – you are going to have to work to keep the scenario real. Your students are going to ask questions of you that you may not know, or did not expect. You may have to research subjects that you know nothing about. I now know more about grass seed blends, truck and rest stops, motor oil and carpet fiber than I ever anticipated. Your students will catch you if you try to fudge. It is all worth it because it will keep the students drawn in. Your video clips will expire and you will need to find new sources. I say – so be it – because it works.

When the class began, they students were falling all over each other, making erroneous assumptions and ridiculous statements. In the last weeks of the course, their comments were thoughtful, intelligent and informed. It was miraculous. The use of a scenario made all the difference. It enabled the students to work through the material in a way that may not have been hands-on, but was certainly brains-on. And they did it together as a class.