Posts Tagged ‘class discussions’
August 12 - Structuring Discussion to Engage Students
By: Nachamma Sockalingam PhD in Teaching and Learning
Instructors face a Herculean challenge in managing discussion – whether the discussion is face-to-face or online. To be an effective instructor, it is important to learn how to facilitate discussion, and keep the dialogue flowing without veering off topic.
August 4 - Participation Policies and Student Motivation
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
A number of excellent comments were posted in response to the July 7 post which raised questions about how much participation should count. Thank you to those of you who contributed and a suggestion that those of you who read the post early might want to revisit the comments section.
February 15 - 10 Benefits of Getting Students to Participate in Classroom Discussions
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning
Participation is one of those workhorse instructional strategies—easy to use, straightforward, expected, and often quite successful at accomplishing a number of learning goals. It’s good to remind ourselves of its many different uses, especially on those days when getting students to participate feels like pulling hens’ teeth.
January 27 - 9 Ways to Use Class Discussion to Promote Transformation
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
Classroom discussion – whether face-to-face or online – is a vital part of higher education today, valued as way to explore course content while promoting critical thinking and effective communication. Learn how to improve your class discussions by attending this seminar.
January 20 - What Do Students Learn Through Discussion?
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
It’s a good question and on days when getting them to discuss feels a lot like prodding reluctant mules, it’s easy to be cynical about learning outcomes. But most faculty believe in discussion and try hard to make it work. Would we make the effort if we didn’t think the learning potential was there?
February 22 - Reconsidering Grading Students on Class Participation
By: Christopher Willard in Teaching and Learning
A common phrase uttered during the first day of class is: “You will be graded on class participation.” As instructors we know what we expect. But what exactly do our students think we mean by that statement? The longer I’ve taught the more I’ve come to realize that students may not really know.
October 23 - A Novel Approach to Encouraging Class Participation
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Effective Classroom Management
Most instructors attempt to encourage class participation by making it part of the overall grade. But evaluating individual contributions and promoting a substantive, intriguing discussion at the same time is no small task. Consequently, many instructors end up evaluating participation subjectively, relying on an intuitive sense of who spoke, how often, and saying what. Besides
August 18 - Values Surveys: Linking Course Content and Students’ Lives
By: Barbara A. Mezeske in Teaching and Learning
Last week, while teaching Dante’s Inferno, I moderated a lively two-day class discussion about medieval and modern values and religion. How did Dante define virtue? How do we define it? For Dante, why was lust not as terrible a sin as theft of property? Why did his age consider gluttony a moral failing rather than a self-destructive behavior that one can take to Jenny Craig?
July 27 - Introverted Students in the Classroom: How to Bring Out Their Best
By: Tami Isaacs, PhD. in Teaching and Learning
To promote learning, we encourage our students to be actively involved in class discussions by asking and answering questions. Even if we do not include class participation in our grades, how a student behaves in class does influence our perception of the student’s abilities. These opinions may become important if the student’s grade in class
June 17 - Using Twitter to Facilitate Classroom Discussions
By: Mary Bart in Effective Teaching Strategies
As a history major I usually found most of my history courses pretty interesting. Certainly some were more interesting than others but I think a lot of that had more to do with the instructor than the content. Of course not every student who takes a history class course plans to major in it, which is why I love it when I hear about a history professor (or any educator for that matter) doing innovative things to engage students in one of those “core courses” many students often dread.
