Full Class Discussion: Checking Understanding and Critical Thinking

There are two types of discussions that happen in the classroom: informal and formal. Informal discussions, like those that happen before or after class or side-bar conversations during class, are a great way to build community. We'll discuss these more in Engage Your Students.

Formal discussions can be used to assess your student's current level of understanding, and are a powerful way to encourage critical thinking. They are also useful in promoting creative thinking, as in brainstorm sessions.

A successful formal discussion depends on good questions and skillful facilitation. Discussion questions should be open-ended and thought provoking Links to an external site.. If there is only one correct response, then it is a homework question, not a discussion question. For guidance on writing good discussion questions, review A Guide to Writing Discussion Questions Download A Guide to Writing Discussion Questions

and see examples of the three levels Download examples of the three levels using the first amendment as a model.

Your job as facilitator is to set the tone, guide the discussion, keep it on track, and ask additional probing questions. 

 

Doing a discussion in the Canvas Discussion tool will feel very different than an in class discussion. It will take place over a period of days rather than minutes. But it has the benefits of going deeper and drawing out those who wouldn't normally speak up in class. 

Here are things to to consider when setting up an online discussion

• Instructions: Post question(s) and expectations in the Instructions box of the discussion. You could post a video, image, or document to discuss there as well.
• Time Frame: 1 day to 1 week. If you want to mimic a classroom discussion with quick back and forth, like in a brainstorm session, set a short time frame of a day or two. For more in-depth discussions set a longer time frame with guidance on when to post.
• Expectations: Tell students when to post and how much. For example, first post is due on Wednesday, responses due by Friday, and discussion Wrap-up on Saturday/Sunday. Each post should be 100-150 words.
• Graded vs ungraded: Grading encourages participation. Students may not take time for something that doesn't count. In fully online courses discussions are often 20-30% of the grade. In remote teaching, consider making it part of the participation grade for each week. Ungraded discussions are useful for building community or providing peer feedback.
• Recommended settings in Canvas:
  • Allow threaded: Check this box so responses are kept together.
  • User must post before seeing replies: Very useful to force students to think through their reply and not just read what everyone else said and mimic it.

For more tips and guidance on online discussions, check out the following two articles:
10 Tips for Effective Online Discussions Links to an external site.
Down and Dirty Guidelines for Effective Discussions in Online Courses Links to an external site.

 

Doing a discussion in a live session is much like doing one in a classroom, but requires a little more management on your part. You will want to be in Gallery view in Zoom so that you can see all your students on one screen. 

Small Groups (< 8):

• Unmute everyone and allow students to speak freely.
• You may end up with some students speaking over each other as they try to gain the floor and you will need to mediate.
• If it becomes unruly or there is too much background noise, then manage as you would a large group.

Large Groups:

• Use the Participant panel in Zoom to control the group. Instruct your students to also open the participant panel so they can see the raise hand feature.
• Use Mute All so that background noise does not become a distraction.
• After you pose the question, have students raise their hand using the participant feature. You will see it on the participant screen as well as next to their picture on screen.
• Verbally call on a student and unmute them in the participant screen.

It will feel awkward at first, trying to watch for the handraise icon and remembering to unmute the students. Students may also forget to use the button and physically raise their hand. Approach it with a sense of humor and soon it will feel very much like the classroom with students physically raising hands and being called on.