This research examines whether online discussion groups enhance students' ability to analyze political problems and recall factual knowledge. The study compares four sections of the author's introductory world politics course--two that employed online discussion groups and two that did not. The results revealed little difference in the performance of the sections with and without the online groups. These findings suggest the need to pursue further research focusing on how learning is measured, how discussion group size affects outcomes, how providing students with a study guide detailing course objectives impacts learning, and whether alternative forms of active learning, such as research projects or problem solving exercises, might better develop the capacity for analysis.