The Real World Model of Classroom Discussion

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The Real World Model of Classroom Discussion

• Developed by Professor Terry Doyle
• Ferris State University
• Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning

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Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this workshop you will
• Be better able to help students become more
  skilled in participating in discussion
• Be better able to clarify for students how
  discussion can lead to effective learning
• Be better able to explain to students the major
  role talking and listening play in the real
  world of work
• Be able to facilitate the development of student
  driven discussion guidelines for their courses
• Be better able to write effective discussion
  questions at multiple levels of thinking

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Discussion vs. Recitation

• Recitation is a controlled series of exchanges
  usually teacher led and often seeking specific
  conclusions

• Discussion is when information is freely
  exchanged between several participantsit is
  marked by the absence of teacher control and the
  desire to seek a specific conclusion (Langauge
  and Learning in the English Classroom, M. Nystrand

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Key Issues Affecting Discussion

• Students dont necessarily know how to engage in
  effective discussion
• Students often see discussion as unrelated to
  their learning
• Students need a safe environment for sharing and
  testing their ideas

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Key Issues Affecting Discussion

• Students need some control over the discussion
  guidelines
• Discussion activities need to be seen by students
  as having significant valuethis usually means
  grading the discussion
• Students must see a real world application to
  discussion both the knowledge gained and the
  skills of speaking and listening

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Faculty Need to See Discussion as Important

• Allowing students the choice to
• not learn how to express and
• defend their views orally would be
• no different than allowing
• them to choose not to learn to write quality
  papers or take tests to demonstrate content
  knowledge

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Real World Reasons Why Discussion is Important

• Not knowing how to express your ideas in the
  workplace can be career threatening.

• www.manhattanrickshaw.com/ graphics/apprentice.jpg
  

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Real World Reasons Why Discussion is Important

• Students need to learn that their ideas,
  suggestions, questions or concerns will not be
  heard in the world of work if they wait to be
  called upon

uponwww.dw-world.de/.../ 0,3772,11696_1,00.jpg
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Real World Reasons Why Discussion is Important

• Getting the attention of the leadership at any
  level will depend on learning to offer your
  ideas, suggestions, insights, etc., voluntarily
  and assertively.

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Real World Reasons Why Discussion is Important

• Learning to orally express ones ideas or values
  precisely is a vital skill needed for success in
  the world of work.

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Real World Reasons Why Discussion is Important

• Students need to understand that one of the most
  important aspects of college learning is
  listening to the different views, thinking
  processes, and ideas of their peersit is a major
  way they develop and refine their own thinking.

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Real World Reasons Why Discussion is Important

• Learning to defend a point of view, accept and
  give criticism and adapt or rethink a position
  are key real world skills
• Learning how to do this is crucial to being
  well-educated.

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Discussion and Learning

• Classroom discussion is one of the key tools
  teachers can use to have students test their
  learninglearning without testing is incomplete
  (James Zull, Art of Changing the Brain)
• As Alfred North Whitehead put it, without
  testingYou have inert ideas

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Discussion and Learning

• When students present their ideas, they are
  changing the abstract into the concretemental
  ideas into physical eventsthey are completing
  the learning cycle.
• (James Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain)

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Discussion and Learning

• Testing of ideas brings claritybeing precise
  helps a learner to see the details of her
  thinkingto see what might be missing.

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Discussion and Learning

• Discussion gives students feedback on the
  validity of their ideastheories are just
  theories until they are tested
• (James Zull)

• USA Today, 1-14-05

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Discussion and Learning

• Without testing our ideas we can not say that we
  have learnedmany times learners have been led to
  believe that the answer is the goal even if it
  is reached without knowledge or understanding
• (James Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain)

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Discussion and Learning

• Only through expression of a learners ideas
  (orally or in other forms) can we see how the
  learner has understoodhow he/she have reached
  their answer

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Discussion and Learning

• Experts, it seems, may become experts because of
  the freedom they feel to question and think in
  creative ways.
• Happily, teachers can encourage such creative
  freedom in thinking by presenting what they know
  as an interim report in an on going inquiry, that
  is acknowledging the larger uncertainty that
  surrounds the process of knowing.(Ellen J.
  Langer, Mindfulness 1989)

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Valuing Discussion

• One way to value discussion activities is to
  grade themthe grade must be a meaningful part of
  the overall course grade.

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Valuing Discussion

• Students need to see talking and listening is
  just another form of learning just like reading,
  writing papers, or taking tests

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Valuing Discussion

• Students need to understand that not sharing (not
  participating) in discussions is unacceptable as
  it diminishes the learning of the groupstudent
  ideas are part of the content of the class

maisnam.net/7/bored/
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How Does Discussion Create Learning

• It challenges and changes student attitudes
• It aids significantly in the transference of
  knowledge
• It motivates students for further
  exploration(Linda Nilson, Teaching at Its Best
  A Research Based Resource for College
  Instructors. 1998)

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How Does Discussion Create Learning?

• It enriches the ideas and thought processes
  available to students
• It is highly superior to lecture in developing
  problem solving skills

(Linda Nilson, Teaching at Its Best A Research
Based Resource for College Instructors. 1998)
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How Does Discussion Create Learning?

• Promotes self-awarenesswho else holds my views
• It promotes the taking of risks which can lead to
  new discoveries and insights(Linda Nilson,
  Teaching at Its Best A Research Based Resource
  for College Instructors. 1998)

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How Does Discussion Create Learning?

• Develops critical oral expression skills
• Enhances the organization of thoughts
• Increases the accountability for our ideas and
  views
• (Linda Nilson, Teaching at Its Best A Research
  Based Resource for College Instructors. 1998)

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• Students need to have input in to the ground
  rules and grading of participation and
  discussionownership by students is a key
  component of effective classroom discussion
• (Weimer. 2002)

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• Students need to understand that the classroom is
  where we want them to make and learn from their
  mistakesit is the testing and proving ground
• (Robert Bjork, UCLA Memory and Metamemory)

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• Teachers need to define the role they will take
  in discussionthat of a facilitator not a
  contributor

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• All discussions must have follow up activities
  that cause students to reflect upon, use, or
  review the information discussedthis is needed
  to promote long-term learning

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• Students should begin a semester with a practice
  discussion using the ground rules and grading
  system they have helped develop.

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Developing Student Generated Discussion Guidelines

• Have students meet in groups of three and
  discuss
• What made for some of the best discussions they
  have been a part of in their past learning ?
• What made for the worst discussions?
• Have the students list the characteristics of
  each of these discussions

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Developing Student Generated Discussion Guidelines

• 3. Have each group share one characteristic for
  best discussions until all have been shared
  with the whole class
• List all answers on the board
• 4. Repeat for worst discussions

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Developing Student Generated Discussion Guidelines

• 5. In their groups have students use the
  information on the best and worst discussions
  to develop an effective set of guidelines for
  conducting class discussions
• These guidelines would help the best
  suggestions happen and prevent the worst from
  happening

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Developing Student Generated Discussion Guidelines

• Questions to help groups formulate guidelines
• Who gets to participate in the discussion?
• Should everyone participate?
• Do students have to have read the assignment or
  completed the homework to participate?
• If sohow will it be verified?

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Developing Student Generated Discussion Guidelines

• How do people participate in the discussion? Do
  they raise their hands or just speak out when
  they have something to ask or add?
• Since challenge and disagreement are a healthy
  part of discussion, what behaviors should be
  acceptable when students challenge or disagree
  with one another so the discussion remains civil
  and productive?

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Developing Student Generated Discussion Guidelines

• What language will be deemed inappropriate for
  classroom use based on current cultural norms?
• How should students be graded on their
  participation in the discussion?
• Do all responses count the samei.e., asking a
  question, giving a view, challenging an answer,
  expanding on an answer etc?

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• What are the consequences for those who do not
  participate?
• Should there be a privacy rulethat anything
  discussed in the classroom stays in the
  classroom? Or, if a person asks that it remain in
  the classroom, that request will be honored?

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• Should their be a time limit as to how long any
  one person can speak?
• Who should be responsible for keeping the
  discussion on track?
• Since hearing everyones ideas is a key to
  discussion should everyone be required to take
  part?

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• Have each group share one at a time, the
  guidelines they suggest and make a master list of
  guidelinesrefining and combining similar
  suggestions from groups

www.iq-home.com/Plumbing/ 1020rules20for20s...
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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• The faculty member takes all of the suggestions
  home and reformats them into clear, easy to read
  guidelines
• (Add guidelines that are essential or and trying
  not to delete anyexcept ones that are totally
  inappropriate)

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Teaching Students How to Engage In Discussion

• Have each suggestion represent a plank of the
  classes guidelines and have the students vote on
  each plank
• Majority will rule and all planks approved will
  become the guidelines for the class
• They will be printed up by the faculty member and
  distributed to the class

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Specialized Guidelines

• We agree to disagree
• Dont personalize the dialogue
• The purpose of discussion is not to reach
  consensus, nor to convince each other of
  different view points (Teaching and Learning
  Center, U of Nebraska)

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Discussion Tools for Students

• Questions to ask Others when seeking clarity
• "What, exactly do you mean?"
• "Will you please rephrase your statement?"
• "Could you elaborate on that point?"
• "What did you mean by the term. . .?"

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Discussion Tools for Students

• Questions to ask themselves
• "What assumptions underlie what I am saying?"
• "What are the reasons for thinking as I do?"
• "Is what I am saying all there is to it?"
• Is there more than one question here that needs
  to be addressed?"
• "How would an opponent to my point of view
  respond?"

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Discussion Tools for Students

• International students who are concerned about
  their English can write out their input in
  advance and use the writing to help them when
  sharing in the discussion.

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Research on Classroom Discussion

• Depending on which study you read, the average
  college course spends only 1 to 3 of its time
  in discussion
• (Source P. E. Blosser. (1975). How to Ask the
  Right Questions. National Science Teachers
  Association)

nodens.physics.ox.ac.uk/ oi/Partiii/Photos/be
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Research on Classroom Discussion

• The kinds of questions asked in higher education
  courses break into three categories
• 60 require only recall of facts
• 20 require critical thinking
• 20 are procedural in nature
• (Source P. E. Blosser. (1975). How to Ask the
  Right Questions. National Science Teachers
  Association)

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Developing Great Discussion Questions

• 1. Open-ended
• 2. Multiple aspects to the question
• 3. Solving a problem or case
• 4. Seek specific kinds of thinking or reasoning

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Developing Great Discussion Questions

• Sample Evaluation Thinking
• Assuming equal resources, make a case based on
  their decisions made during the Civil War for
  who would have been the most skillful general,
  Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant?

www.nps.gov/frsp/ images/grant.gif
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Developing Great Discussion Questions

• Sample Clinical Reasoning
• A previously healthy 10-day-old newborn is
  brought to the emergency department suffering
  from a fever for past two hours. He was born at
  term after an uncomplicated pregnancy. His
  temperature is 39C. Physical examination shows no
  abnormalities. What tests would you order? Why
  these tests?

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Developing Great Discussion Questions

• Sample Inductive Reasoning
• What are the leadership qualities the following
  leaders have in common( list leaders) and from
  these commonalities what might we conclude are
  the qualities necessary for effective leadership?

President George W. Bush. Photo by Eric Draper,
White House.
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Developing Great Discussion Questions

• Sample Problem Solving
• Suppose you grow up with the idea that dogs were
  bad. Out of the many dogs you came into contact
  with, none bit you when you were quite young. How
  would you react towards dogs now? Would the type,
  size, etc., of the dog make any difference as to
  how you react? Explain the notion of prejudices
  using this example."

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Websites for Discussion

• http//teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/participation.htm
  l
• This website offers lengthy suggestions on how to
  "create a classroom in which students feel
  comfortable, secure, willing to take risks, and
  ready to test and share ideas." The site also
  includes a list of references for further
  reading. The topics here run a wide range, from
  instructor body language to icebreaking tips to
  dealing with students who monopolize discussion.

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Websites for Discussion

• http//www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/faqdisc.htm
  (National Teaching and Learning Forum)
• Consisting of answers to eight frequently asked
  questions, this site offers instructors useful
  approaches for evaluating classroom discussion.

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Websites for Discussion

• http//ftad.osu.edu/Publications/TeachingHandbook/
  chap-5.pdf (Ohio State University)
• A lengthy but very thorough site, covering
  objectives, question types, classroom atmosphere,
  student interaction, and active learning, among
  other topics. Includes suggestions for
  incorporating discussion into a variety of
  disciplines and ways to make transitions between
  writing and discussion.

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Websites for Discussion

• http//www.ksu.edu/catl/discuss.htm
• (Kansas State University)
• Some helpful ideas to consider when helping
  students to understand why discussion is
  important to their learning.

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References

• References
• Opening Dialogue Understanding the Dynamics of
  Language and Learning in the English Classroom.
  Martin Nystrand with Adam Gamoran, Robert Kachur
  and Catherine Prendergast. New York Teachers
  College Press, Columbia University, 1997.
• James Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain
  Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring
  the Biology of Learning, Stylus Virginia, 2002
• Ellen Langer, Mindfulness Choice and Control in
  Everyday Life (1989) Linda B. Nilson Teaching
  at Its Best A Research-Based Resource for College
  Instructors 1998, 2nd Edition
• Mary Ellen Weimer, Learner Centered Teaching
  Jossey Bass 2002
• R. A. Bjork Memory and Metamemory Considerations
  in the training of human beings in J. Metcalfe
  and A. Shimamura ( Eds) Metacognitive Knowing
  about Knowing pp185-205 Cambridge, MA MIT press
• A. Cannon, "Fostering Positive Race, Class, and
  Gender Dynamics in the Classroom." Women's
  Studies Quarterly, 19901 2 126-134.
• http//www.teachingtips.com/articles/Mtechniques1.
  html P E Blosser 1975 How to Ask the Right
  Questions National Science teachers Association
• University of Nebraska Teaching and Learning
  Center
• http//ctl.unc.edu/cal.html The Guided Discussion
  (February, 1992)
• http//www.indiana.edu/teaching/ Classroom
  Discussion Suggestions, Joan Middendorf and Alan
  Kalish, 1996
• Nystrand, M,. Language and Learning in the
  English Classroom, Teachers College Press New
  York,