FlipGrid: Re-imagining online discussion forums for the public administration classroom

ABSTRACT

Public administration faculty commonly use discussion forums in their asynchronous courses to engage students about course content. However, the typical pedagogical approach for online discussions forums is for the professor to post questions and students respond, in writing. In this paper, we suggest public administration classes should consider the use of FlipGrid for asynchronous course discussions because it engenders student participation through oral videos about course content. Our pilot study uses original data collected during a global pandemic (Spring 2021) to document the experiences of 39 students enrolled in two asynchronous public administration classes. The findings illustrate FlipGrid enhanced important skills for our public administration students – verbal communication skills (e.g. clarity and brevity) and ability to connect theory to practice.

KEYWORDS:

• FlipGrid
• discussion forums
• public administration classroom
• asynchronous

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

No funding supported this project.

Notes on contributors

Sara R. Rinfret

Sara R. Rinfret is a public administration and policy generalist, teaching courses on regulatory policy, environmental policy, public policy, public opinion & polling (qualitative or quantitative methods), human resource management, organization behavior, and public administration. She is the Acting Dean, Public Administration & Policy within the Alexander Blewett School of Law and Director for the Master of Public Administration Program. Her main area of research is focused on policy creation and implementation (environmental policy, regulations, and compliance) and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Much of her policy research examines the role of interest group participation, women, or public opinion during the stages of administrative rulemaking at the state, federal, or international level.

Elizabeth Forster

Elizabeth Forster is a current graduate student of the University of Montana’s MPA/JD Program.