University of St. Thomas-Houston's Associate Professor of Psychology & Chair Dr. Crystal D. Tran and Instructional Designer for UST's Arts & Sciences Division Manuel Fernandez presented at the "Anthology Together" 2023 Conference in July. Sponsored by Blackboard (Anthology), the conference drew a global audience representing more than 40 countries. (https://www2.anthology.com/together )

The session presented by Tran and Fernandez was called “Let’s Discuss Discussions” with a theme of teaching, learning and inclusion. Together, they described how to make discussion board assignments effective. The two reviewed strategies to increase student participation. Tran shared her strategies which have resulted in meaningful responses in her online course discussions. More than 70 people attended the session.

The idea to present at the conference sprang from a UST TeachOnline workshop that Tran presented on strategies for using the Blackboard Discussion Board.