Chapter 13: Discussions in Online and Blended Learning: A Tool for Peer Assessment

This chapter presents a tool (i.e., a rubric) to assess higher-order thinking in inquiry-based discussions. Although discussion rubrics exist, these tools tend to focus on knowledge acquired by individuals rather than the knowledge generated by the group. Using a knowledge-building process suggested by the authors (Stein, Wanstreet, & Glazer, 2011) and informed by the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000), we propose a formative assessment tool that is designed to be used by students as they engage in online learner-led discussions. The tool, which has not yet been tested, was derived from the literature on discussion and collaborative dialogic approaches to learning as well as from online rubric development and evaluation. The tool was developed to assess synchronous as well as asynchronous discussion postings.