Structure of the class room discussion
Whole-class discussions can encourage students to learn from one another and to articulate course content in their own words. While generally not conducive to covering large amounts of content, the interactive dynamic of discussion can help students learn and motivate them to complete homework and to prepare for class. Leading discussions in which students contribute meaningfully requires a great deal of instructor forethought and creativity. The suggestions below can help you to facilitate good class discussions and improve your classroom climate, a piece of the Fearless Teaching Framework.
Devote a moment
to communicating the value of discussion to your students. It may help to
convey your rationale for discussion, perhaps deepening not only their sense of
why they are expected to engage in active learning but also their engagement
with the course.
Before Class
·
Learn students’ names.
·
Review lesson-related
material, even if you have already mastered content. Extemporaneous recall
can breed trouble.
·
Plan. Write out more
discussion questions than you think you will need before class begins, but
don’t treat your questions like a to do list. Your questions should be a
resource for you; they should not inhibit your students from taking the
discussion in a productive direction.
·
If students were assigned
reading prior to a class meeting, plan to use the text. You may want to begin
class with a short reading from the text and have discussion flow from
that reading.
During Discussion
·
Every student should have
an opportunity to speak.
·
Encourage students to look
and talk to each other rather than to just look and talk to you. Too often
“discussions” take the format of a dialogue between teacher and a series
of students.
·
Before the discussion
starts, ask your students to take several minutes to write down everything they
know about the topic of the discussion. This will prime them for the
discussion.
·
If possible, make the class
space more conducive to discussion. Arrange seats in a circle or in a
manner that enables students to see each other easily. Don’t let students sit
in seats that are outside this discussion space.
·
After asking a question,
wait at least eight to ten seconds before calling on someone to answer it
(measure the time by counting silently to yourself). Otherwise, you signal
they need only wait a few seconds for the “right” answer to discussion
questions.
Posing discussion questions
·
Ask questions that
encourage responses from several people (“What do the rest of you think
about that?”)
·
Use phrasing that implies
that the students are a learning community (“Are we in agreement?” / “Do we
have any differences of opinion?”)
·
Ask a mix of questions,
including questions that ask students to
o Recall specific information
o Describe topics and phenomena
o Apply abstract concepts to concrete situations
o Connect the general with the specific
o Combine topics or concepts to form new topics or concepts
o Evaluate information
·
Avoid yes/no questions –
Don’t phrase questions in a way that the students can answer in one word (“Is X
true?”). Open-ended questions elicit student thought (“In what way has X
impacted Y?”)
·
Avoid asking, “Are there
any questions?” This implies you have finished talking about a topic.
Sensing that you have said your piece, students may only ask questions about
minor points of clarification or will simply hope that rereading the textbook
will answer their questions. Consider asking instead, “Is there anything
that is unclear or needs further clarification?”
·
Avoid dissertation
questions. If you want your students to entertain broad questions, break
the question down into smaller queries that students are more able to address.
Dignify your students
·
Avoid a style of
questioning that is designed to punish inattentive or lazy students.
·
Refer to your students by
name. This models the intellectual community.
·
Treat your students like
experts. If a student makes a good comment, refer back to that comment in
subsequent discussions (e.g., “Do you recall what Henry said last week? How
does this new information confirm or deny his conclusion?”).
·
Allow a student to “pass”
on a question, but come back to him or her later in class.
·
Admit when you make a
mistake in class. Similarly if a student asks you a question to which you do not
know the answer, promise to research the question after class or to provide
students with appropriate resources to find the answer him or herself.
·
Keep the discussion
focused.
·
State the discussion topic
at the beginning of the class.
·
Periodically summarize the
main themes/points brought out in discussion. Consider writing these main
themes/points on the board.
End discussion
smoothly
·
Review the main points of
the discussion or ask a student, notified previously, to review the main
points.
·
At the end of the
discussion, allow students to write down any conclusions or lingering questions
they have. Perhaps, ask them how the discussion affected their views on a topic
or their understanding of a concept. Ask several students to share these.
·
Point out how the day’s
discussion will tie in with the next discussion.
Specific Typesof Large Group Discussions
Challenges toDiscussions
General Methods of Teaching | Course Code 8601| aiou solved assignment
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