Posts Tagged ‘facilitating effective classroom discussions’
December 16 - Making the Review of Assigned Reading Meaningful
By: Sarah K. Clark, PhD in Effective Teaching Strategies
The typical college student dreads hearing, “Let’s review the chapters you read for homework.” What generally ensues is a question and answer drill in which students are peppered with questions designed to make clear who has and hasn’t done the reading. In reality, these exchanges do little to encourage deep thought or understanding of the assigned reading. They produce awkward silences during which students squirm in their seats, hoping to become invisible. Other times students decline to answer for fear of giving the wrong answer. Almost all the time a negative tone permeates the classroom during this review. I decided to restructure the way that I approached reviews of reading assignments, and found that by doing things differently, I could change both the tone and outcomes of the review activity. I’d like to share some of the ideas and techniques that I have found useful:
September 21 - Practical Ideas for Improving Student Participation
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
At a recent workshop at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, I asked participants to identify the one thing about participation they would most like to change in their classrooms. From a variety of items mentioned, we decided to focus on three. They are listed below along with a range of solutions suggested by the group. Some of the solutions apply to more than one of the problems.
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.
May 2 - Strategies for Facilitating More Effective Classroom Discussions
By: Mary Bart in Effective Teaching Strategies
If you’ve been teaching for any amount of time, you probably have a few nicknames for students based on the personality traits they exhibit. Roben Torosyan, PhD, associate director of the Center for Academic Excellence at Fairfield University, has some nicknames for his students, too. Names like Q, Sunny, and Light Bulb.
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?
November 12 - Could We Hear from Someone Else, Please?
By: Elayne Shapiro in Effective Teaching Strategies
Generating participation in a large class discussion is fraught with teaching land mines. We can call on people who raise their hands, but too often it is always the same people. We can ask to hear from someone else and risk offending those who have been volunteering, so that there are even fewer hands. We can call on people randomly and risk embarrassing those who aren’t prepared or don’t understand. Maybe that will motivate them to prepare, or it may just be reflected in our teaching evaluations. I’d like to share an exercise that broadens class participation and offers a way around these potential risks.
April 20 - Three More Tips for Facilitating Classroom Discussions
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Effective Teaching Strategies
We are used to discussing topics with our colleagues. They know the material, have already thought a lot about it, and can answer questions quickly. We want conversations in class to clip along at a similar pace—there’s always lots of material the class needs to get through.
