Classroom Discussions: Strategies for Success!
Format: Independent learning + 2 live virtual class sessions
Dates: September 25 - October 14 with live sessions on September 27 & October 11 from 11:00am - 12:00 pm Central Time
Instructors: Dr. Lou Hirsch, Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky
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The benefits of discussion as a teaching tool are undeniable. Discussion turns the passive acquisition of knowledge into active learning, helps students process information and relate it to their own experience and existing knowledge, opens students' minds to new perspectives, and helps students practice vital communication skills. However, leading an effective classroom discussion requires skills different from lecturing that are often not taught in teacher training and can be tricky to practice.
Join us to learn and practice strategies that will set up your classroom for lively, authentic student-led discussions. Participants will either practice one or more of the discussion strategies in their own classrooms or create a plan for integrating guided discussion into future courses.
Student Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- List examples of ineffective class discussions and analyze key failure points.
- Model the expected course of a new class discussion prompt and identify likely rhetorical dead ends.
- Develop and evaluate open-ended discussion prompts that allow for inquiry-driven discourse.
