Reinventing DiscussionsCenter for Faculty Development

Curiosities?

What are your concerns, questions, and ideas about facilitating discussions?

CommunityExpectations

Trust

Relevance

Modeling

Practice

Shared responsibilities

Balanced voices

“Maybe if I sit in the backshe won’t call on me…”

Ensuring prereadingSetting expectations

Garnering enthusiasm

Establishing relevance

Assigning readings carefully

Framing with questions, structure

Ensuring prereadingSetting expectations

Garnering enthusiasm

Establishing relevance

Assigning readings carefully

Framing with questions, structure

Neil Postman once wrote, “Computers are merely ingenious devices to fulfill unimportant functions. The computer revolution is an explosion of nonsense.”

Do you agree or disagree with Postman?

Neil Postman once wrote, “Computers are merely ingenious devices to fulfill unimportant functions. The computer revolution is an explosion of nonsense.”

Why do you think Postman wrote this? What evidence do you believe he would reference to support his perspective? What would you say to change his mind, or at least present an alternative perspective? What is your viewpoint, and why?

Using thought-provoking prompts

Ensuring prereadingSetting expectations

Garnering enthusiasm

Establishing relevance

Assigning readings carefully

Framing with questions, structure

Prompting discussion prepResponding to prompts in advance

Reviewing discussion expectations in advance

“If I’m lucky, the same people who always answer the questions

will do so again today…”

Structuring discussionsBasic format

Role assignment

Discussion protocols

Structuring discussionsBasic format

Physical space

Group size

Length of time

Modeling

Extension questions

Time-outs

Structuring discussionsRole assignment

Time manager

Summarizer

Questioner

Recorder

Devil’s Advocate

Structuring discussionsDiscussion protocols

Provides structure

Defines roles and level of participation

Balances voices and time

“How many times do I need to talk to meet

the participation requirement?”

Assessing discussionsShared responsibility

One-minute papers

Discussion rubric/assessment tool

Assessing discussionsShared responsibility

Assessing discussionsOne-minute papers

Assessing discussionsDiscussion rubric/assessment tool