Thisstudyexaminedhowquestiontypesinfluencedthequantityandqualityof undergraduate students’ online submissions. Discussion questions were structured based on one of six question types: direct link, course link, brainstorm, limited focal, open focal and application. Transcripts of eight online discussions involving 114 participants were analysed on these dependent variables: word count, degree of answer completion, and level of higher-order thinking. Results indicated the question types differentially influenced students’ submissionsonalldependentvariables.Limitedfocalquestiontype,followedbybrainstorm,openfocalanddirectlinktypes,wasmostinfluentialforwordcountand degree of answer completion. Course link, brainstorm and direct link types were most influential in generating higher-order thinking, although students mainly engaged in lower-order thinking across all question types.
['Megan E. Bradley', 'Lindsay R. Thom', 'Jennifer Hayes', 'Cindy Hay']
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