|  From
the Director
Mary Stephen, Ph.D.
Director, Reinert CTE
Discussion
is a strategy used by many faculty members at the University
to address a variety of goals, ranging from engaging students
with course content to developing critical thinking skills.
Using discussion, whether in face-to-face settings or online,
does not come without challenges.
How
does a faculty member facilitate discussions that encourage
all students to contribute? How does one avoid having a
few students dominate the discussion or, alternatively,
foster discussion when greeted by silence? How does one
keep discussions on-track or decide when an off-shoot contributes
to the goals of the course? Are there different strategies
to be used when facilitating discussion online as opposed
to in a “live” setting? Should points be given
for contributing to discussions and if so, how should points
be awarded? Are there ways to use discussion in large classes?
For
this issue of the Notebook, we invited faculty members to
share their experiences and suggestions for using discussion
in teaching. Our faculty guest columnists for the year,
Mary Dunn, Ph.D. and Randy Richter, Ph.D., address this
theme as well.
There are many excellent resources with tips for using discussion
in teaching available. One of my favorites is Discussion
as a Way of Teaching by Brookfield and Preskill. (Discussion
as a Way of Teaching, S. D. Brookfield and S. Preskill,
1999, Jossey-Bass
Publishers, San Francisco, CA.). The following links
lead to additional resources on using discussion in teaching:
Engaging
Students in Online Discussion, prepared by the Center
for Instructional Development and Research, University of
Washington
Using
Class Discussion to Meet Your Teaching Goals, prepared
by The Center for Teaching and Learning, Stanford University
For additional ideas on teaching, please join your colleagues
from 8:30 to 12:30 on Thursday, January 7 for the Center
for Teaching Excellence sponsored event, Spotlight on Teaching:
Interactive Strategies from SLU Faculty. Additional details
and registration information will be available shortly on
the CTE website (http://cte.slu.edu).
Last
updated 11.24.09 |
Volume 12: Issue 2
In
this Issue
Where
We Started: Reflections on Dialogue and Teaching
Bryan Sokol, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Discussion
Techniques for the Lecturer
Paaige K. Turner, Ph.D
Associate
Provost for Community Engagement and
Department of Communication
Tips
for Using Discussion
featuring:
Daniel Chornet Roses, Ph. D.
Department of English and Communication
John
P. Keithley, Ph.D., C.P.A.
Department of Accounting
Mark
Ruff, Ph.D.
Department of History
Conversations
on Teaching Columnists
Mary
Dunn, Ph.D.
Theological Studies
Randy
Richter, Ph.D.
Physical
Therapy and Athletic Training
The
CTE Staff Corner
What’s Writing
Got to Do with It?
Debie Lohe, Ph.D
Program Director for Teaching Enhancement, Reinert CTE
Making
Online Discussion Work
Sandy Gambill
Program Director for Learning Technologies, Reinert CTE
|
