Hello!

Jennifer SmithDirector, Center for Teaching ExcellenceUniversity of Florida

Act 1

Scene 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Student Needs

Scene 2. . . . Are Discussions Effective?

Scene 3. . . . . . . .Challenges Discussion

Scene 4. . . . . Keys to Useful Discussion

Scene 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Protocols

Act 2

Scene 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Circle of Voices

Scene 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fishbowl

Scene 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Roles

DrAmAtis PersonAe

Student Teacher Narrator

1.What do our

students need/want?

Oral and written communication

(79.4%)

Critical thinking and problem

solving (79.9%)

Teamwork and collaboration

(85.1%)

Students Consider Themselves Proficient in:

(Bauer-Wolf, 2018)

Source: Job Outlook 2018 (N=201 employing organizations) and The Class of 2017 Student Survey Report (N=4,214 graduating seniors), National Association of Colleges and Employers (Bauer-Wolf, 2018)

41.60%

55.80%

77.00%79.40% 79.90%85.10%

ORAL & WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS

CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING

TEAMWORK & COLLABORATION

% of Employers that Rated Recent Grads Proficient

% of Students Who Considered Themselves Proficient

Gen Z Students Want:

▣ Mix of learning environments and activities▣ Hands-on experiential learning▣ Social learners▣ Marketable skills

(Selingo, 2018)

2.Are

Discussions Effective?

Undergraduate STEM

▣ Meta Analysis: 39 studies

▣ Fosters more favorable attitudes toward learning

▣ Improves persistence in STEM courses and programs

▣ Effective in promoting greater academic achievement

□ Learning improvement was consistently around .5

standard deviation(Springer, Stanne & Donovan, 1999)

Cooperative vs. Competitive

▣ Meta Analysis: 168 studies

▣ Knowledge acquisition

▣ Retention

▣ Accuracy

▣ Problem solving

▣ Higher-level reasoning(Johnson, Johnson, & Smith 2014)

Introductory Genetics Biology course

“Our results indicate that peer discussion enhances understanding, even when none of the students in a discussion group originally knows the correct answer.”

(Smith, et al., 2009)

3.Challenges

Let’s talk about them!

Provide tokens to each student to

track contributions

Some students talk too much

Some students talk too little

Use “round robin” types of discussion

Provide a quiz to promote

accountabilityAssign rotating roles

(Brookfield & Preskill, 2005)

Report out

▣ Identify a solution that is:

□ Interesting

□ Surprising

□ Useful

Does this mean the lecture is

dead?

Discussion Compliments Lecture

▣ Lecture models methodology▣ “Buzz Groups”▣ Collaborative notes▣ Clicker responses▣ Exit “tickets”

4.Keys to Useful

Discussion

1. Explain

▣ What will be the benefit to students?▣ What skills will students develop?

□ Why do students need these skills?▣ How will you help them?▣ Credit = value

(Brookfield & Preskill, 2005)

2. Ground Rules

▣ Identify the rules you think are needed▣ Groups generate and share lists of good/bad

practices□ Guide the class to consensus

▣ Work with groups to identify sanctions▣ Remind students of the rules

(Landis, 2008)

3. Scaffolding

▣ Listening practice▣ Model thought process ▣ Guide students to identify evidence▣ Provide time to think

4. Preparation Assignment

▣ Quiz▣ Online discussion▣ Case▣ Provide the prompt in advance (if possible)▣ Use “starter sauce”

What is “starter sauce?”

Card Sort Worksheet Roles

5.Sample

Protocols

Think-Pair-Share-Square

After covering a concept in lecture, ask students to:

▣ Summarize the concept

▣ Solve a problem

▣ Give a reaction

▣ Relate the concept to previous material

▣ Predict what will happen next, hypothesize

▣ Resolve a conceptual conflict

(Johnson, Johnson & Smith, 1998)

Listening Pairs

▣ Provide time to think▣ Each student shares a personal experience▣ Partners listen▣ Switch roles

(Brookfield & Preskill, 2016)

Quotes

▣ Draw a quote ▣ 1 – 2 minutes to consider the quote

□ Interpret, build upon, affirm or contradict▣ Round robin share comments▣ Open discussion▣ Optional: report out

(Brookfield & Preskill, 2016)

List Brainstorm

▣ Individuals write down as many items as they can think of in response to the prompt

▣ Groups work together to categorize ideas□ Identify useful elements□ Synthesize possible solution(s) to share out

▣ Each person writes a solution▣ Moderator shares solutions▣ Participants review solutions

and revise▣ 2 or more rounds

Delphi Problem-Solving(C

ollie

r, 19

81)

Questions?

Act 2:Protocols

Starter Sauce

▣ Provide a meaningful task▣ Promote individual accountability

□ Assignment□ Quiz□ Clicker□ Writing□ Activity

When you see: Replace with:

q d or tz mb pp ber vs

e, as in pet a, as in bat

a, as in bat e, as in pet

Circle of Voices

▣ 2 minutes for decoding activity

▣ Round 1:□ How did you feel?□ No interruptions

▣ Round 2: □ What can you do for students?

▣ Open discussion:□ Questions, disagreement, clarification

(Brookfield & Preskill, 2016)

Translation

In particular, we have long hypothesized that social

pedagogies are particularly effective at developing traits

of “adaptive expertise,” which include the ability of the

learner to use knowledge flexibly and fluently, to

evaluate, filter and distill knowledge for effect, to

translate knowledge to new situations, and to understand

the limits and assumptions of one’s knowledge.

(Bass & Elmendorf)

Fishbowl

(Barkley, et al., 2014)

Perspective Shift

▣ Roles□ Stakeholders□ Points of view□ Characters

▣ What would happen when x changes?▣ How many things can change?

Roles

▣ Fact checker▣ Explorer▣ Facilitator▣ Scribe or reporter▣ Innovator

▣ Cast students in roles▣ “Tweet” as your

character ▣ Reply to other “tweets”

(de

Car

olis

(201

6)

Antigone “Tweets”

Tiresias:

@Antigone, I tried to tell @Kreon but he is just too hard headed. #niceknowingyou

Antigone:

@Tiresias, My uncle will regret this! #notbackingdown#takingthistothetomb #nicetoknowyouaswell #farewellfornow

Chorus: @wiseelder

@Tiresias you told @Kreon this would happen, why pray now? #alittletoolate#hardheaded#listen2urelders.

Oral and written communication

Critical thinking and problem

solving

Teamwork and collaboration

Questions?

Thanks!jksmith@ufl.edu

Sources

▣ Barkley, E.F., Major, C.H., & Cross, . P. (2014). Collaborative learning techniques; a handbook for college faculty. San Francisco; Jossey-Bass.

▣ Bass, R., & Elmdendorf, H. (n.d.). “Designing for difficulty: social pedagogies as a framework for course design.” Retrieved from https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/bassr/social-pedagogies/

▣ Bauer-Wolf, J. (2018, February 23). Study: students believe they are prepared for the workplace; employers disagree. Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/23/study-students-believe-they-are-prepared-workplace-employers-disagree

▣ Brookfield, S., & Preskill, S. (2016). The discussion book: 50 great ways to get people talking. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

▣ Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2005). Discussion as a way of teaching: tools and techniques for democratic classrooms (Second). Hoboken: Wiley.

▣ Collier, J. (1981). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Collier_-_Priestess_of_Delphi.jpg

▣ de Carolis, A. (2016). Italian translation by Ettore Romagnoli of some tragedies by Sophocles. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sofocle-60.png

▣ Haines, D. B., & McKeachie, W. J. (1967). Cooperative versus competitive discussion methods in teaching introductory psychology. Journal of Educational Psychology, 58(6, Pt.1), 386–390. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0020046

▣ Howard, J. R., & Weimer, M. (2015). Discussion in the college classroom: getting your students engaged and participating in person and online. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

▣ Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998). Active learning: cooperation in the college classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.

▣ Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (2014). Cooperative learning: Improving university instruction by basing practice on validated theory. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 25(3&4), 85-118.

▣ Kyle, C., & Buckens, K. (2019). The best small saucepan hero. photograph. Retrieved from https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/the-best-saucepans-for-cooking-literally-everything-article

▣ Landis, K. (Ed.). (2008). Start talking: a handbook for engaging in difficult dialogues in higher education. Anchorage, AK: University of Alaska Anchorage.

▣ McKeachie, W., & Svinicki, M. (2014). McKeachie's Teaching Tips: strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

▣ Selingo, J. J. (2018). The New Generation of Students: How colleges can recruit, teach, and serve Gen Z. (p. 26). Washington, D.C.: The Chronicle of Higher Education.

▣ Smith, M. K., Wood, W. B., Adams, W. K., Wieman, C., & Knight, J. K. (2009). Why peer discussion improves student performance on in-class concept questions. Science, 323, 122–124.

▣ Springer, L., Stanne, M. E., & Donovan, S. S. (1999). Effects of small-group learning on undergraduates in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 69(1), 21–51.

Credits

▣ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival

▣ Images by TheNounProject