/
Discussions: Effective Discussions

Discussions: Effective Discussions

Owned by Liam Mason (Unlicensed)
Oct 04, 2021
3 min read

  • Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." - Voltaire

  • "My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions." - Peter Drucker

  • "We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong." - Bono

  • Demonstrate content knowledge

  • Build 

    • Community

      • Autobiography

      • Portrait

      • Interview

    • Consensus

  • Reflection

  • Practice (student-led)

    • Facilitation 

    • Giving feedback 

Let’s Discuss

  • Looking at your course(s), what is your desired purpose for the discussion?

  • Convergent (closed)

  • Divergent (open)

  • Evaluative (judging)

  • Descriptive (is)

  • Prescriptive (should)

  • Deepen

  • Clarify

  • Redirect

McKeachie (2002)

  • Comparative (compare, contrast)

  • Evaluative (judging)

  • Connective-Causal (linking)

  • Critical (validating)

Momentum Questions

  • Marshall and Rossman

  • Bloom’s Taxonomy

  • Brookfield and Preskill

  • Descriptive

  • Exploratory

  • Explanatory

  • Emancipatory

Let’s Discuss

  • Looking at your course(s), what types of questions would be most appropriate for your content and outcome?

  • Web Field Trips

    • Museum Walk

  • Brainstorming

    • Delphi-ish Technique

  • Writing Groups

    • Peer Review

    • Collaborative Writing

  • Case Analysis

    • History Repeats Itself

    • Anywhere in the World But Here

  • Problem Solving

    • Reply to self

  • Debate

    • Point-Counterpoint

  • Summarizing

    • Takeaways

    • Clearest, Muddiest Points

  • Good old questions

    • Ask and answer

    • Initial post, X replies

Let’s Discuss

  • What types of activities match your content and outcomes? How is the activity influenced by the type of question being asked? Does it even matter?

  • Prompt

    • Background

    • Prompt/Proposition

    • Question

  • Instructions

    • Length

    • Timing

    • Formality (Netiquette)

    • Replies

    • Resources

  • Criteria

    • Feedback

    • Grading

      • Expectations

      • Content

  • Advice

    • Tips

    • Tricks

Let’s Discuss

  • What PICA are you most concerned about? How can you design the experience to reduce the concern?

  • Individual Response

    • 1:1

    • Probing questions

    • High contact, interaction

    • Plan for repeated responses

    • Opportunity for individual

      • feed back 

      • feed up

      • feed forward

  • Summarized Response

    • Funneling

      • Pass Day

        • Group commonalities

        • Group differences

        • Probing

      • Deep Day

        • Summarizing

Let’s Discuss

  • What facilitation are you most concerned about? How can you take action to reduce the concern?

  • Students who eMail with their replies

    • WQDYH

  • Attaching Word doc as a reply

    • Uncheck the box

  • “I agree” or the like

    • Nip it fast with a zero (0)

  • Misconception that doing the minimum is an A

    • “Get used to your B”

  • A good discussion with 30 individual replies

    • Funnel

    • Play matchmaker

    • Make groups

  • Many students saying the same thing

    • “Pay to play” setting

    • Better question design

    • More probing questions

Let’s Discuss

  • What upsets you about discussions? How can you make positive steps to change the results? 

  • Set aside time to reply

    • Set boundaries on your replies

  • Preemptive announcements or group replies to reduce confusion

  • Have FAQ and point students to it

  • Teach students about your process and expectations

  • Discourage eMail

    • Use “what questions do you have?” forum

Let’s Discuss

  • What about faculty workload and discussions?  What do you know? What do you want to know?

    • Past

    • Present 

    • Future

  • Difficulty refining their own ideas

    • Not just regurgitating the text

    • “Make a claim and defend it”

  • Difficulty with extended discussion

    • Not just “answer it and move on”

    • “Embrace the grind”

  • Difficulty with dialogue

    • Easier to monologue

    • Can be awkward with emotional topics

Let’s Discuss

  • How will you design and implement your discussion to [combat, reduce, overcome] student difficulties?

Related content