Mitigating Conflict in Asynchronous Online Discussions: Strategies for instructors in higher education

Organized asynchronous discussions are a common feature in online, formal higher-education courses. Discussions can take place learner to learner or instructor to learner and are situated in small group projects, processing content in message boards, and games. Within these learning settings, conflict can emerge. Conflict may foster deeper learning about ideas, or it may be destructive and create a negative learning environment. The purpose of this article is to identify conflict challenges present within asynchronous online discussions and to present evidence-based strategies to mitigate conflict within these higher education instructional settings. Conflict challenges may involve navigating effective online collaboration, participating in small group discussion, and developing discernment for health conflict. Strategies to mitigate conflict include: providing support throughout the course for student ownership; creating points for class and group cohesion; incorporating relevant small group facilitation strategies; integrating leadership concepts in team development; and structuring purposeful instructor monitoring. Although conflict cannot be avoided, understanding ways to categorize conflict challenges within discussions can support practitioners? use of related evidence-based strategies to mitigate conflict.