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Leading Effective Discussions

Essaka JoshuaJoseph Morahan Director of the College

Seminar

By the end of this session I will have…

• Some idea of what a discussion is

• Some practical advice on how to facilitate a discussion

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Visualize the Goal

• Write down a word or phrase that describes the best discussion leader you ever had

Definition

• Oxford English Dictionary: (1) Examination, investigation, trial (by judge) judicial decision (2) Examination or investigation by arguments for and against (3) Argument or debate with a view to elicit truth or establish a point; a disquisition in which a subject is treated from different sides

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My Definition

• Discussions are oral explorations of a topic or concept. They can be open or guided and can incorporate a wide-range of strategies that ultimately promote the development of ideas, enable understanding, check knowledge, facilitate collaboration and problem solving, and lead to intellectual enrichment.

Activity

• In groups of 4, introduce yourselves, and make a list of what you think are the advantages and disadvantages of learning through discussion?

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Why have academic discussions?

• To understand a topic more deeply• To explore ideas• To exchange information• To expand and clarify knowledge• To improve ability to think critically• To improve language skills• To increase confidence in speaking• To make a particular decision or come to a

conclusion• To hear the thoughts and ideas of other students

What are the key elements of an academic discussion?

• Students demonstrate effective preparation • Argument, hypothesis, reflection, comparison• Explanation of and application of concepts• Use examples as evidence to support claims• Point to potential objections• Link new points to previous points• Ask as well as answer questions• Interpret as well as give information • Summarize points at appropriate moments

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What is a GOOD discussion?

• Speakers are developing their ideas as they go along

• Discussion helps them to think in new ways

• Discussion gains a momentum of its own and no longer needs the questioner

• Shared responsibility and everybody speaks

• Active learning

What is a GOOD discussion?

• Rich diversity of ideas: depth and/or breadth

• Conflict is handled respectfully

• Speakers remain in academic discourse

• Points of view are justified with argument and evidence

• Leader knows the names of the students

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What is Leadership in Discussion?

Activity:

In groups of 4, discuss the ways in which society disadvantages people who have disabilities

What is Leadership in Discussion?

• In groups of 4, choose one of the following disabilities: blind, deaf, mobility impaired, being of small stature

• Bearing your disability in mind, answer the following questions: – What would public transport be like if everyone

was like you? – What would books be like if everyone was like

you? – What would restaurants be like if everyone was

like you?

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A good discussion leader

• A good discussion leader is someone who can enable discussants to feel included, includes active learning, can break a topic into its discursive parts, ranges across a topic and deeply into it, manages the proportion of timespent on valuable or difficult areas, has the flexibility to deal with the unpredictable, making certain that the preparation leads to the discursive areas of a topic

Your job…

• is not to provide facts or the information needed to pass the test

• is to guide collective inquiry into a subject

• is to ask the right questions

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Your job…

• Use the right techniques

• Comment on what is said, framing it, re-stating it in simpler or in more sophisticated language

Who is the ideal discussant?

A well-read self-starter who has carefully gone through the set material, understood it, and read beyond it, is intellectually curious and excited. Brimming with ideas, he or she generates his or her own list of questions, comes with a list of useful quotations from the edition that you set, with page numbers, is capable of sustaining an answer over several minutes without taking over, and is supportive of the general flow of the direction of the discussion

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How do I facilitate good discussions?

• Ground rules

• Teaching space

• Syllabus

• Active learning strategies

• Asking the right questions

Ground Rules

What implicit ground rules do you think discussions should have?

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Ground Rules

What explicit ground rules do you think discussions should have?

Ground Rules

Can be student-generated

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Teaching Space

• Discussions are rarely successful in serried rows, where students are unable to give each other eye contact

• Change the room if it isn’t right

• Changing the room changes the dynamics and may help students to remember

Syllabus

• Preparation tasks

• Emphasis

• Content

• Goals

• Core

• Assessment

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Active Learning

• Icebreakers

• Taking a perspective

• Structured controversy

• Student-led discussion

• Close reading

• Team teaching

Active Learning

• Small group to whole group

• Rounds: speaking in turn

• Brainstorming

• Restating or echoing

• Quiet time

• Anonymous questions

• Absence

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Silence in the Room

• Wait before you speak

• Split into groups

• Rearrange the furniture

• Ban talking for a few minutes

• Close reading

• Change the venue

Problem Solving:Silence in the Room

• Formalize the debate

• Delegate control

• Make the task very important

• Hand out specific roles

• Introduce competition

• Individual students are silent: introduce a rule where you only speak once until everyone has spoken

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Model Academic Discussion

• See handout

Final thoughts, quotes, tips

• “Teaching is difficult and stressful” (Bill Cox, Practical Pointers for University Teachers. London: Kogan Page, 1994)

• Make a lesson plan for every session, with timings – don’t wing it; make notes on how it went

• Be prepared

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Final thoughts, quotes, tips

• “Effective small-group teaching requires good organization, with rules of order. It relies on participationto educate. The groups need to be …managed carefully, to have the best chance of full involvement by all present – shutting up the excessively vocal, drawing out the quiet and timid. Some subjects lend themselves to small-group discussions better than others – the topics need to be debatable, with many equally acceptable viewpoints, rather than the more cut and dried factual material….Ideally, students should do some preparationbefore the group meets – directed readings, some research, or preparing a paper” (Bill Cox, Practical Pointers for University Teachers. London: Kogan Page, 1994), p.74.

Final thoughts, quotes, tips

• Be flexible

• Think about who you are when you teach

• Professionalism is appreciated and respected

• Read something about teaching: by the time you hit the job market, you’ll be expected to have a “teaching philosophy”

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Do you have any questions?