Track
Research Project / Learning Theories and Pedagogy
Abstract
Research has shown that group discussions benefit students’ comprehension of material, critical thinking, and development of communication skills. However ensuring both preparation and participation by all, or even a majority of students, are often some of the most challenging aspects of class discussions. This participation is further complicated in larger classrooms, where individual voices may be less likely to be heard – either from the perspective of timing / logistics or from a students’ unwillingness to contribute. Awarding credit for class participation and / or soliciting participation from reticent students are potential solutions, but can be a complex undertaking if an instructor wants to divide a larger class into smaller discussion groups.
This poster presents approaches taken in an upper level course at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) to both increase the preparedness of students for class discussions and promote participation of more students in class discussions. These roundtable activities are weekly occurrences and focus on both historical articles written by some of the most well-known researchers in the field to journal articles published within the last six months on transformative research or recent projects. Inclusion of both pre-class activities and the associated rubrics, as well as various in class approaches will be included.
Session Format
Poster Session
Location
Room 113
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Kunberger, Tanya, "Various Activities to Facilitate Participation in Group Discussions" (2016). SoTL Commons Conference. 11.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2016/11
Various Activities to Facilitate Participation in Group Discussions
Room 113
Research has shown that group discussions benefit students’ comprehension of material, critical thinking, and development of communication skills. However ensuring both preparation and participation by all, or even a majority of students, are often some of the most challenging aspects of class discussions. This participation is further complicated in larger classrooms, where individual voices may be less likely to be heard – either from the perspective of timing / logistics or from a students’ unwillingness to contribute. Awarding credit for class participation and / or soliciting participation from reticent students are potential solutions, but can be a complex undertaking if an instructor wants to divide a larger class into smaller discussion groups.
This poster presents approaches taken in an upper level course at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) to both increase the preparedness of students for class discussions and promote participation of more students in class discussions. These roundtable activities are weekly occurrences and focus on both historical articles written by some of the most well-known researchers in the field to journal articles published within the last six months on transformative research or recent projects. Inclusion of both pre-class activities and the associated rubrics, as well as various in class approaches will be included.
