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Discussion-based classes: challenges & solutions.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Although discussion-based classes can be an effective catalyst for upper-level students' higher-order thinking, class discussions are often a source of frustration for faculty and students. Five components of discussion classes (students, teacher, content, assessment, setting) are examined in light of instructor goals to (1) foster meaningful participation, (2) create a learning community, (3) encourage student reflection, (4) design assessments to encourage critical-thinking, and (5) bridge the gap between teaching and assessment.

Introduction

Contemporary research on teaching emphasizes the value of class discussion as a means of actively engaging students in the process of learning. The discussion method has been found to be an effective tool for increasing students' mastery of subject matter, problem-solving skills, and communication skills (Bonwell & Eison, 1991; Gall & Gall, 1990; Garvin, 1991; McKeachie, 1999; Nilson, 1998). Although discussion-based classes can be a catalyst for developing students' higher-order thinking skills such as application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (Bloom, 1956), they are often a source of frustration for faculty and students.

A common complaint from faculty is that class discussions simply don't work: students don't participate, or their comments lack depth (McKeachie, 1999). In addressing the components of effective discussion-classes, there are five interrelated goals: (a) to stimulate meaningful student participation, (b) to create a learning community within the classroom, (c) to encourage student reflection on learning, (d) to design assignments and assessments to foster critical-thinking, and (e) to bridge the gap between teaching and testing.

Discussion is not the only effective way to teach, nor should a class be focused exclusively on discussion (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999). Instead, discussion is a potentially valuable tool that is sometimes ignored or abandoned because of disappointing results. A framework is offered for examining problems and solutions in classes when discussion has been attempted unsuccessfully, or when potential negative outcomes prevented trying discussion.

Components of Discussion-Based Classes

Students

Students enter a classroom with expectations formed through years of educational experience. Before a teacher can find a remedy for lack of participation, it is important to identify specific reasons why students are reluctant to speak. Many students have an educational history of "received knowledge" (Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, & Tamle, 1986), passively absorbing information from the teacher but being unable or unwilling to contribute, a learned behavior for which students may have been rewarded in the past, earning outstanding grades in classes that offered no opportunity or incentive for speaking.

In classes that do not encourage discussion, students often adopt the role of "stenographer," sometimes called "banking," where students make deposits, to be withdrawn on a future test. Active, directed effort from both students and faculty is necessary to overcome students' "longstanding habits of intellectual passivity" (Gray, 1993, p. 70). One of the challenges for students...

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