本行動研究的目的是想解決研究者在上討論類型課程時所遇見的問題。雖然研究者在上討論課前一週甚至兩週前，就會宣佈閱讀範圍及討論題目。但是仍有不少學生是上課時才開始閱讀的；有一些學生宣稱他們唸完指定範圍，但因課前未好好思索討論問題，所以也無法提出有見解的發言；另有許多學生覺得討論時需要在大眾面前發言，令他們感到焦慮。研究者通常要花很長的時間才能讓討論課的氣氛活絡起來，當大家漸漸進入狀況開始有較精采的發言時，卻又快要下課了。經過研究者與學生們檢討這些情況後，研究者相信必須要找到一種方法可以強迫學生預習(包括閱讀與思考討論題目)並讓教師評量其預習程度，讓學生可以很自在的發言而不覺得困窘，讓討論可以在下課後仍然繼續。研究者於是採用電子論壇(電腦中介溝通的一種)以嘗試解決上述的問題，她及她的助理以Frontpage98架設了一個教學網站，並且將網站中的電子論壇完全融入她的教學中。由於電腦會自動記錄張貼文章者的姓名及張貼的日期、時間，有較多的學生執行了預習的功課，教師也可以有確切的證據認定哪些學生完成了預習的功課。電腦中介溝通提供了怯於公開表達意見者一種較隱密且舒適的參與方式。而網路超越時空限制的特性，則使得討論得以在下課後繼續進行。由研究者的觀察及學生的自我省思，上述欲解決的問題經由此網站的架設與經營都得到了解決。但是這個解決問題的方法卻又導致另一個問題的開始，現在研究者所面臨的是如何解決網路系統不夠穩定及頻寬過窄的問題。

　　　　　The purpose of this piece of action research was to solve the following problems the researcher encountered in her seminar class. Even though she announced the reading and discussion questions one or two weeks in advance, quite a few students did not read the asigned chapters till they came to the class. Others had done their reading, but had not spent time contemplating on the discussion questions, so they failed to provide deepthought opinions to the discussion questions. Yet, many students felt uncomfortable about expressing personal opinions in public. It often took a long time for her seminar class to get warmed up, and by the time the discussion was getting hot, it was time to dismiss the students. The researcher, also an associate professor in a teachers' college in northern Taiwan, an dher former students believed they needed to find a way to push her students do the preview, to let her students express their ideas comfortably, and to be able to continue discussion despite the class meeting time limit. Electronic Forum (a form of computer-mediated communication) was the strategy she adopted to try to solve the abovementioned problems Using Frontpage 98, she and her assistant established an instructional web site, in which she incorporated electronic forum in her curriculum and pedagogical design. Because the computer will record the time, date, and the author's name of the articles posted on the forum, the researcher can easily find out who did the preview and who didn't. Computer-mediated communication provided a method for those who were too shy to speak in public to participate the discussion. And the web's ability to go beyond the time and space limitations makes discussions after class feasible. From the researcher's observation and her students' reflection, it was believed that the above-mentioned problems were solved. But the introduction of electronic forum to the researcher's class has brought another problem, i.e., the instability and the traffic jam of the web system.