Students will watch a fight between two moose and predict the fate of the winner and loser in a Canvas discussion board. They also will predict whether one species can influence the evolution of another species. Next, students will watch a video on how dogs’ facial expressions have evolved over time. Finally, they will return to the discussion board to share whether their opinion has changed and why or why not.
Monitor the posts in the discussion board. To prevent students from viewing the “Evolution of Dogs” video before they have made a prediction post in response to the third question, set a date for that video or hide it by unpublishing it until students have had time to answer the third question.
Show the first video (“Moose Fight”) and then direct students to the discussion board to answer the first two questions in a post. After sufficient wait time, share some of the responses and ask students to elaborate, if necessary. Point out any similar opinions students have shared. Next, have students make a prediction in response to the third question and then reply to two peers’ predictions. After sufficient wait time, share some responses and show the “Evolution of Dogs” video to students. Finally, have students revisit their prediction post and reply with any new revelations they may have.
The discussion board is facilitated by Canvas discussions, which include a variety of options. Canvas discussions may be graded or ungraded, and they enable the instructor to add due dates and availability dates. These options may be configured to suit students’ needs.
To learn more about Canvas discussions, consider reading this Discussion Options tutorial.
Check out these Online Discussion Best Practices to help students develop their own opinions and to foster student discourse.