Lopsided Class Discussions? Do This to Get Them Talking.

A common concern with teachers is generating meaningful classroom discussions (Dannels, 2015). Both teachers and students need these discussions to happen: As teachers, we need these discussions to evaluate what they’ve learned, as well as to decide what we need to do to help them grow (intellectually). Students need to actively engage in discussions because it helps them articulate what they’ve learned, as well as to “test their ideas and opinions” (University of Pittsburgh). When only one or two students dominate the discussions, we might be able to evaluate those students, but these lopsided discussions leave out the rest of the learners. To involve everyone, we should consider incorporating technology to get students talking.

As a graduate student, I attended a course where the professor, Dr. Chris Lam, used a survey tool to generate class discussions. 

Here’s how it worked:

Source: PollEverywhere.com

1. The students completed their reading assignment and came to class prepared to discuss the topic.
2. During class, Dr. Lam asked us to connect with the survey tool (either through our desktop computer or our smart phone). This part takes about one minute.
3. He told us we had to answer, and then he read a question that made us think. For example, a question might have looked like this: “If  you were editing a document that was poorly designed, would you (a) edit it and not mention anything about the design issues;  (b) edit it and redesign the document; (c) edit it and mention that you think it needs to be redesigned?” … If students asked Dr. Lam for clarification about a question, he wouldn’t give additional information.
4. Each student selected an answer (using the computer or smartphone) without discussing their selections.
5. Dr. Lam used the SMART Board to display the survey results, which looked like a bar graph. (The survey tool immediately generates the results.)
6. Everyone could see how many people selected each answer (“a”, “b”, or “c”), but nobody knew who selected each answer.
7. Dr. Lam generated excellent discussions: “Raise your hand if you selected “x”. . .Tell us why you like this answer.” He went through each possible answer before giving his own opinion. Then, he moved on to the next survey question and did the same.

Two great takeaways: (1) Every student participates by selecting an answer. This activity is a good way to make the less talkative students share their opinions. (2) Teachers can create vague survey questions to encourage critical thinking skills, as well as to discuss the course topic.    

The survey tool we used in the example above was Poll Everywhere, and it offers a 30-day trial period. Several other survey tools are available for teachers.

Discussion question: As graduate students, what do you see your professors do to generate discussion?

/ts

#disclosureanddialogue

Resources:

Dannels, D.P. (2015). 8 Essential questions teachers ask: A guidebook for communicating with students. New York: Oxford University Press.

Poll Everywhere. How it works. PollEverywhere.com. Retrieved from https://www.polleverywhere.com/how-it-works

University of Pittsburgh. The Importance of Class Discussions. Retrieved from: http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/instructor/class-discussions.html