Discussion

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This article explores a set of practices in the teaching of Talmud called “the pedagogy of slowing down.” Through the author’s analysis of her own teaching in an intensive Talmud class, “the pedagogy of slowing down” emerges as a pedagogical and cultural model in which the students learn to read more closely and to investigate the multiplicity of meanings inherent in the Talmudic text, thus bridging the gap between an ancient text and its contemporary students. This article describes the specific techniques in the pedagogy of slowing down, and the ways in which this teaching practice contributes both to students’ becoming more attentive readers and to the ongoing development of their religious voices.

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How to Talk About Hot topics on Campus fills a gap in the literature by providing a resource that shows how to construct and carry out difficult conversations from various vantage points in the academy. It offers a theory-to practice model of conversation for the entire college campus that will enable all constituencies to engage in productive and civil dialogue on the most difficult and controversial social, religious political and cultural topics.
How to Talk About Hot Topic on Campus covers teaching highly controversial, potentially, provocative, subject matter as well as creating an institutional culture that welcomes and nourishes difficult conversations throughout campus life. The book speaks to faculty student affairs staff, administrators and students in all campus venues. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Part I Laying the Theoretical Groundwork for Moral Conversation
ch. 1 Igniting the Fire of Moral Conversation
ch. 2 Promoting a Spirit of Pluralism on College Campuses

Part II Practicing the Moral Conversation
ch. 3 A Faculty Member's View on Moral Conversation from the Classroom
ch. 4 An Administrator's View on Moral Conversation from the Division of Student Affairs
ch. 5 A Senior Administrator's Systemic View on Facilitating Moral Conversations Across Campus

Part III Final Words on Moral Conversation
ch. 6 Opportunities, Risks, and Caveats for Moral Conversation

App. A A Step-by-Step How-To Guide for Facilitators and Participants When Doing Moral Conversation
App. B Additional Text References and Internet Resources
App. C Western Stereotypes About Islam from Both the Left and the Right
App. D A Whole-Campus Teaching and Learning Rationale for Moral Conversation: Inspired by the 2004 NASPA Report Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience
App. E Naturalistic and Narrativistic Paradigms in Academia: Implications for Moral Conversation

References
Index

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This paper is a guide to the effective design and management of team assignments in a college classroom where little class time is available for instruction on teaming skills. Topics discussed include forming teams, helping them become effective, and using peer ratings to adjust team grades for individual performance. A Frequently Asked Questions section offers suggestions for dealing with several problems that commonly arise with student teams, and forms and handouts are provided to assist in team formation and management. 

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Leypoldt provides forty distinct ways to teach young people and adults, with diagrams to illustrate each method. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
ch. 1 Teaching In Groups
ch. 2 Which Way is Best For Me?
ch. 3 The Forty Ways to Teach
ch. 4 Book Report
ch. 5 Brainstorming
ch. 6 Buzz Groups
ch. 7 Case study
ch. 8 Chain-Reaction Forum
ch. 9 Circle Response
ch. 10 Colloquy
ch. 11 Couple Buzzers
ch. 12 Debate Forum
ch. 13 Demonstration- Work Group
ch. 14 Depth Bible Encounter
ch. 15 Expanding Panel
ch. 16 Field Trip
ch. 17 Film Talk-Back
ch. 18 Gallery Conversations
ch. 19 Group Discussion
ch. 20 Group Drawing
ch. 21 Group Response Team
ch. 22 Group Writing
ch. 23 Inductive Bible Study
ch. 24 Interview Forum
ch. 25 Lecture
ch. 26 Lecture Forum
ch. 27 Listening Teams
ch. 28 Music Forum
ch. 29 Panel
ch. 30 Panel Forum
ch. 31 Play-Reading Talk-Back
ch. 32 Questions and Answers
ch. 33 Reaction Panel
ch. 34 Research and Report
ch. 35 Role-Playing
ch. 36 Screened Speech
ch. 37 Seminar
ch. 38 Sermon Forum
ch. 39 Symposium
ch. 40 Symposium Dialogue
ch. 41 Symposium Forum
ch. 42 Work Groups
ch. 43 Workshop
ch. 44 Evaluation
ch. 45 Bibliography
ch. 46 Appendix

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One page Teaching Tactic: on the first day of class, students discuss course content by discussing classification strategies

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Teaching with Your Mouth Shut is not intended as a manual for teachers; it aims to provoke reflection on the many ways teaching can be organized. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Teaching with Your Mouth Shut
Let the Books Do the Talking
Let the Students Do the Talking
Let Us Inquire Together
Speaking with Your Mouth Shut: The Art of Writing
Experiences That Teach: Creating Blueprints for Learning
Refusing to "Teach": Separating Power and Authority in the Classroom
Teaching with a Colleague
Conclusion: Providing Experience, Provoking Reflection

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(Text not available on web.)
Reviews purposes of teacher questions, types of questions, strategies for questioning, tactics for fielding student responses,and tactics for fielding student questions.

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One page Teaching Tactic that moves students around the room to help them identify and discuss the major points in an assigned reading.

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One page Teaching Tactic: helping students to develop tools for countering violence, in a course taught in a women's prison

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Intergroup dialogue has emerged as an effective educational and community building method to bring together members of diverse social and cultural groups to engage in learning together so that they may work collectively and individually to promote greater diversity, equality and justice.

Intergroup dialogues bring together individuals from different identity groups (such as people of color and white people; women and men; lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and heterosexual people), and uses explicit pedagogy that involves three important features: content learning, structured interaction, and facilitative guidance.

The least understood role in the pedagogy is that of facilitation. This volume, the first dedicated entirely to intergroup dialogue facilitation, draws on the experiences of contributors and on emerging research to address the multi-dimensional role of facilitators and co-facilitators, the training and support of facilitators, and ways of improving practice in both educational and community settings. It constitutes a comprehensive guide for practitioners, covering the theoretical, conceptual, and practical knowledge they need.

Presenting the work and insights of scholars, practitioners and scholar-practitioners who train facilitators for intergroup dialogues, this book bridges the theoretical and conceptual foundations of intergroup relations and social justice education with training models for intergroup dialogue facilitation.

It is intended for staff, faculty, and administrators in higher education, and community agencies, as well as for human resources departments in workplaces. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Foreword

ch. 1 Deepening the Layers of Understanding and Connection: A Critical-Dialogic Approach to Facilitating Intergroup Dialogues
ch. 2 In the Hands of Facilitators - Student Experiences in Dialogue and Implications for Facilitator Training

Section One: Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation:Training for Classroom-based Experiences
ch. 3 Training Peer Facilitators as Social Justice Educators: Integrating Cognitive and Affective Learning
ch. 4 Facilitator Training in Diverse, Progressive Residential Communities: Occidental College as a Case Study
ch. 5 Preparing Critically Reflective Intergroup Dialogue Facilitators: A Pedagogical Model and Illustrative Example
ch. 6 (Re)Training Ourselves: Professionals Who Facilitate Intergroup Dialogue

Section Two: Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation Training for Applications to Campus and Community Settings
ch. 7 Training Students to Change Their Own Campus Culture Through Sustained Dialogue
ch. 8 Democracy Lab: Online Facilitation Training for Dialogic Teaching and Learning
ch. 9 Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation for Youth Empowerment and Community Change
ch. 10 Extending Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation to Multicultural Social Work Practice

Section Three: Learning From and With Intergroup Dialogue Facilitators: Voices on Identity, Alliances, and Career Commitments
ch. 11 Identity Matters: Facilitators’ Struggles and Empowered Use of Social Identities in Intergroup Dialogue
ch. 12 Not FOR Others, But WITH Others, For ALL of Us: Weaving Relationships, Co-Creating Spaces of Justice
ch. 13 Changing Facilitators, Facilitating Change:The Lives of Intergroup Dialogue Facilitators Post-College

Contributor Biographies
Index

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This article focuses on Reflective Structured Dialogue as a set of practices developed in the context of conflict resolution that are well suited to handling quotidian uneasiness and extraordinary moments of disruption in religious studies classrooms. After introducing Reflective Structured Dialogue's history, goals, and general practices, the authors consider its uses in classroom settings. They argue that a classroom in which teachers understand themselves as facilitators, and in which students are experienced in structured dialogue practices – including being comfortable in a state of intellectual “wobble” – is one more apt to be able to engage with, and more likely to benefit from, disruptive events.

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One page Teaching Tactic: students discuss the nature of religion by comparing brief descriptions of founders.

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One page Teaching Tactic: to introduce and discuss course content on the first day of class, students work in groups to list what they know about the topic.

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Using seven design principles and a simple method, the World Café provides tools ("a powerful social technology”) for engaging people in conversations that matter.

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Instructions for students on how to participate in small groups

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Learn the four easy steps to conducting the questioning technique, Hands Down.

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The quality of our lives is determined by the quality of our thinking. The quality of our thinking, in turn, is determined by the quality of our questions, for questions are the engine, the driving force behind thinking. Without questions, we have nothing to think about. Without essential questions, we often fail to focus our thinking on the significant and substantive. When we ask essential questions, we deal with what is necessary, relevant, and indispensable to a matter at hand. We recognize what is at the heart of the matter. Our thinking is grounded and disciplined. We are ready to learn. We are intellectually able to find our way about. To be successful in life, one needs to ask essential questions: essential questions when reading, writing, and speaking; when shopping, working, and parenting; when forming friendships, choosing life-partners, and interacting with the mass media and the Internet. Yet few people are masters of the art of asking essential questions. Most have never thought about why some questions are crucial and others peripheral. Essential questions are rarely studied in school. They are rarely modeled at home. Most people question according to their psychological associations. Their questions are haphazard and scattered. The ideas we provide are useful only to the extent that they are employed daily to ask essential questions. Practice in asking essential questions eventually leads to the habit of asking essential questions. But we can never practice asking essential questions if we have no conception of them. This mini-guide is a starting place for understanding concepts that, when applied, lead to essential questions. We introduce essential questions as indispensable intellectual tools. We focus on principles essential to formulating, analyzing, assessing, and settling primary questions. You will notice that our categories of question types are not exclusive. There is a great deal of overlap. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Introduction: The Power of Essential Questions

Part One: Analytic Questions
ch. 1 Questioning the Structure of Thinking
ch. 2 Asking One System, No System, and Conflicting System Questions
ch. 3 Questioning Dogmatic Absolutism and Subjective Relativism
ch. 4 Question Concepts
ch. 5 Conceptual Tools for Conceptual Questions
ch. 6 Questioning Data, Information, and Experience
ch. 7 Questioning Questions: Identifying Prior Questions
ch. 8 Asking Complex Interdisciplinary Questions
ch. 9 Interdisciplinary Questions: An Example
ch. 10 Questioning in Decision-Making and Problem-Solving

PartTwo: Evaluative Questions
ch. 11 Determining Value, Merit, and Worth
ch. 12 Evaluating Reasoning (Overall)
ch. 13 Evaluating Reasoning (The Parts)
ch. 14 Questioning Clarity and Precision
ch. 15 Questioning As We Read
ch. 16 Questioning As We Write
ch. 17 Asking Ethical Questions
ch. 18 Questioning Bias and Propaganda

Part Three: Questioning Within Academic Disciplines
ch. 19 Questioning the Fundamental Logic of Academic Disciplines
ch. 20 Questioning the Status of Disciplines
ch. 21 Questioning to Understand the Foundations of Academic Disciplines
Essential Questions in Science
Essential Questions in the Social Disciplines
Essential Questions in the Arts

Part Four: Questioning for Self-Knowledge and Self-Development
ch. 22 Questioning Ourselves as Learners
ch. 23 Questioning Our Egocentrism
ch. 24 Questioning Our Sociocentrism
ch. 25 Questioning to Develop Intellectual Dispositions

Conclusion: Questioning Systematically and Socratically

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This Times Higher Education piece introduces the "case study" as a learning activity. A bit choppy in its prose, the piece nonetheless offers a solid introduction to case studies. Includes reasons why they are valuable, a framework for the activity (motivation, exploration, analysis toward deeper understanding), instructions for preparation, and the attention to the use of case studies in examinations.

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This Boston University Center for Excellence & Innovation in Teaching article describes the elements of a proper case study, its advantages for learning, guidelines for using case studies in class, and select additional online resources.

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One page Teaching Tactic: students reflect on their reading practices for class.

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One-page Teaching Tactic describing break out groups that integrate online-distance students with face-to-face students in the classroom.

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One page Teaching Tactic: an exercise that treats student groups unequally, to learn about empathetic identification with biblical figures.

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One page Teaching Tactic: creating a safe context to discuss race, ethnicity, and language.

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An essay describing how to plan for controversy in the classroom, and to teach students to think critically.

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An essay describing steps teachers can take to prevent “incidents” from escalating into a crisis that derails a course. Practicing effective interpersonal communication techniques can handle “hot moments” effectively.

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Religious studies classrooms are microcosms of the public square in bringing together individuals of diverse identities and ideological commitments. As such, these classrooms create the necessity and opportunity to foster effective modes of conversation. In this essay, I argue that communication attuned to shared human needs – among them needs for safety, respect, and belonging – offers a transformative response to the potential self-silencing and peer-conflict to which religious studies classrooms are prone. I develop this claim with reference to the research on teaching religious studies conducted by Barbara Walvoord and the pedagogy of theologian and Swarthmore University President Rebecca Chopp in formulating an “ethics of conversation” with her students. Building on this foundation, I make a case for developing an “ethos of conversation” in the religious studies classroom based on psychologist and peace activist Marshall Rosenberg's method of “nonviolent communication.” While addressing the roles of conflict and toleration in the classroom through the perspectives of Alasdair MacIntyre and Jeffrey Stout, I argue that Rosenberg's approach to communication is a powerful asset to education that models constructive engagement in the macrocosm of civic life.

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One page Teaching Tactic: using twitter as a tool for class discussion.

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One page Teaching Tactic: a method for convening discussion in large groups.

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Dialogue in Teaching presents a detailed examination of dialogue as a cluster of related dialogical styles and approaches, not just a single entity. The author offers a critical and conceptual study of the nature of dialogue and a discussion of concrete issues in teaching with dialogue: how it works, why it is beneficial for teaching, how it sometimes fails, and how to improve on it. Organizing his book around the metaphor of playing a game, Burbules speaks to scholars and teachers, in sophisticated yet accessible language, about a topic of great interest to both groups. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Foreward
Introduction

ch. 1 Why Dialogue? Why Theory and Practice?
ch. 2 The Dialogic Relation
ch. 3 Playing the Dialogue Game
ch. 4 Rules in the Dialogue Game
ch. 5 Movies in the Dialogue Game
ch. 6 Four Types of Dialogue
Interlude: A Dialogue on Teaching
ch. 7 Why Dialogues Fail

References
Index

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One-page Teaching Tactic that offers a stragety for improving students' participation in classroom discussions.

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Makes suggestions regarding questioning techniques that are appropriate for lecture classes as well as for discussion groups. Idea Paper no. 31, from the series developed by the Center for faculty Evaluation and development, Kansas State University.

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One page Teaching Tactic: To make theoretically dense, conceptually difficult readings more concrete and easier to discuss. This enables our class discussion to begin with something besides “I don't get it.”

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One page Teaching Tactic: begins discussion of human sexuality and the Bible from students' social context rather than “what does the Bible say?” -- derails the rush to judgment and demonstrates the multiplicity of sexuality “issues” in the room.

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One page Teaching Tactic: How to start classroom discussions about sensitive issues such as human sexuality

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One page Teaching Tactic: low-stakes quiz at the start of a unit to encourage student discussion and engagement.

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A large website that spotlights reflective Harvard University instructors using instructional moves (high-leverage teaching strategies) applicable to multiple settings and grounded in teaching and learning research – in 3 general areas: Building Community, Lecturing Interactively, Facilitating Discussions. Moves are anchored in videos showcasing classrooms from across the university. The videos, which combine class footage with reflections from instructors and students, are supplemented by relevant research on the move’s efficacy, tips for enacting this move in diverse settings, and related resources that facilitate deeper exploration.

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One page Teaching Tactic: encouraging discussion of significant course material on the first day of class.

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Makes suggestions regarding questioning techniques that are appropriate for lecture classes as well as for discussion groups. Idea Paper no. 31, from the series developed by the Center for faculty Evaluation and development, Kansas State University.

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TTR Teaching Tactic: designing effective discussion prompts when the professor had laryngitis.

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TTR Teaching Tactic: an analysis of what makes for good questions to prompt student discussions.

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This conversation between the 2018 American Academy of Religion Excellence in Teaching Award winner Jill DeTemple and the editors of Teaching Theology and Religion continues an occasional series of interviews that has previously featured Jonathan Z. Smith, Stephen Prothero, Mary Pierce Brosmer, Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore, and two previous AAR Teaching Award Winners, Joanne Maguire and Lynn Neal. After initial discussion about teaching the intro course we launch into a long discussion of “Reflective Structured Dialogue” – an effective teaching technique for staging contentious conversations, building trust and understanding, and a dialogic culture of curiosity.

Table Of Content:
No table of contents info

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This brief, practical guide lists common problems with leading effective small groups, then techniques for better facilitation. Then, it describes several variations on small group discussion: the fishbowl, the snowball group, the "group round," and others. A great resource for the instructor trying to enhance her "group discussion" repertoire.

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In Talk and Chalk: The Blackboard as an Intellectual Tool, Michael O'Hare describes what distinguishes the nearly ever present blackboard from other media such as slides, overheads, and flip charts. In doing so, he pinpoints the unique nature of a blackboard and how this makes it an especially effective device for managing and stimulating discussions. O'Hare makes a series of practical points about techniques that can put this ubiquitous classroom feature to work helping students stay engaged in class discussion. Everyone who has a blackboard in the classroom will find this a useful piece.

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One page Teaching Tactic: getting discussion started about course content through a no-stakes quiz on the first day of class.

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One page Teaching Tactic: establishing a predictable structure with discussion questions at the start of each class.

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A brief discussion of recent research and literature on students’ reading habits and a few tips on structuring classroom activities and assignments to improve students’ performance.

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A short list of things to keep in mind when you're trying to draw your students into discussion.

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Good outline of what to expect when dealing with an emotionally intense issue, and how to structure and lead class so as to increase learning. Applicable beyond the specifics of the 9/11 terrorist attack.

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Professors articulate appropriate classroom participation practices.

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A 1000 word essay in response to a Call for Papers: “What do you have your students do during a class session when you cannot be present?"

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The issue is richly augmented by a set of teaching tactics (Allen, Ghosh, and Woodard and Mabry) across a range of religious traditions which briefly describe further practices that can be productive in the classroom.

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Lots of useful links to many aspects of teaching emotionally intense topics. Focuses primarily on war in Iraq, but useful for other situations as well.

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A quick checklist of pointers, with links to more resources.

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If your class is ever bored, hostile, aggressive or just not quite right, this teaching improvement manual is for you! Packed with proven tips for making small class teaching more effective, it is full of advice that is easy to apply and aimed at solving day-to-day teaching problems quickly. Well organized and designed to help lift flagging classroom morale and interaction, the book provides specific practical suggestions for a broad range of problems that teachers of all age groups regularly encounter, including: • dealing with problems of group goals, whether goals are unclear, unattainable, or unacceptable; • solving problems of group interaction, whether the group lacks interaction, is dominated by the group leader, or fails to share the interaction; • motivating the group and yourself when either begins to “tune out” or when students don’t cooperate. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Acknowledgements
Introduction to the Third Edition
Preface
Introduction

Part One: Group Goals
Troubleshooting Guide
ch. 1 Goals are Unclear
ch. 2 Goals are Unattainable
ch. 3 Goals are Unacceptable
References for Part One

Part Two: Group Interaction
Troubleshooting Guide
ch. 4 Lack of Interaction
ch. 5 Teacher Dominates Interaction
ch. 6 Students Participate Unequally
References for Part Two

Part Three: Group Motivation and Emotion
Troubleshooting Guide
ch. 7 Students are Tuned Out
ch. 8 Teacher is Tuned Out
ch. 9 Students Do Not Cooperate
References for Part Three
 
Index

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One page Teaching Tactic: prompting student discussion using word clouds.

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One page Teaching Tactic to help students learn how to participate in effective class discussions.

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Click Here for Book Review
Abstract: Second only to lecture as the most widely used instructional strategy, there's no better method than classroom discussion to actively engage students with course material. Most faculty are not aware that there is an extensive body of research on the topic from which instructors can learn to facilitate exceptional classroom discussion. Discussion in the College Classroom is a practical guide which utilizes that research, frames it sociologically, and offers advice, along with a wide variety of strategies, to help you spark a relevant conversation and steer it toward specific learning goals.

Applicable across a spectrum of academic disciplines both online and on campus, these ideas will help you overcome the practical challenges and norms that can undermine discussion, and foster a new atmosphere of collaborative learning and critical thinking. Higher education faculty are increasingly expected to be more intentional and reflective in their pedagogical practice, and this guide shows you how to meet those expectations, improve student outcomes, and tackle the perennial problem of lagging engagement.

Thoroughly grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning, this book gives you concrete guidance on integrating discussion into your courses. You'll learn to:

- Overcome the challenges that inhibit effective discussion
- Develop classroom norms that facilitate discussion
- Keep discussion focused, relevant, and productive
- Maximize the utility of online student discussions

The kind of discussion that improves learning rarely arises spontaneously. Like any pedagogical technique, careful planning and smart strategy are the keys to keeping students focused, engaged, and invested in the conversation. Discussion in the College Classroom helps you keep the discussion applicable to the material at hand while serving learning goals. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Preface
About the Author

ch. 1 Introduction: Why Bother with Classroom Discussion?
ch. 2 Is Anyone Really Paying Attention?
ch. 3 The Challenge of Dominant Talkers
ch. 4 Students’ Differing Definitions of the Classroom
ch. 5 Making Online Discussion Work
ch. 6 To Grade or Not to Grade? And Other Conundrums

Afterword
References
Index

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Offers a variety of practical ideas, tools, and techniques for creating democratic classrooms. The authors suggest exercises to get discussion started, strategies for maintaining its momentum, ways to elicit a diversity of views and voices, ideas for creative groupings and formats, and processes to encourage student participation. In exploring the role of the teacher in discussion, they address the tensions and possibilities arising from ethnic, cultural, social class, and gender difference. Throughout, they emphasize how discussion fosters democratic participation and enhances learning, and they review how to balance the voices of students and teachers. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Preface
Gratitudes
The Authors

ch. 1 Discussion in a Democratic Society
ch. 2 How Discussion Helps Learning and Enlivens Classrooms
ch. 3 Preparing for Discussion
ch. 4 Getting Discussion Started
ch. 5 Keeping Discussion Going Through Questioning, Listening, and Responding
ch. 6 Keeping Discussion Going Through Creative Grouping
ch. 7 Discussion in Culturally Diverse Classrooms
ch. 8 Discussing Across Gender Differences
ch. 9 Keeping Students' Voices in Balance
ch. 10 Keeping Teachers' Voices in Balance
ch. 11 Evaluating Discussion

References
Index

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Presents some maxims and an exhortation on leading discussion in a lecture course. Loneliness of lecturing; Discussion can feel light-weight and loose jointed; Different formats; Using discussion to break up lectures; Many excellent lecturers fear discussion; No real discussion occurs without some level of conflict or difference of ideas; Lecturers making the transition into discussion-leaders; Details.

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From Indiana University: Discussion is important to learning in all disciplines because it helps students process information rather than simply receive it. Includes: Preparing for Discussions; Problematize the Topic; Select a Discussion Format; Choose a Method to Assign Students to Groups; Choose a Debriefing Method; Problems with Discussion; Strategies for Building Discussion throughout a Class Session

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As online courses proliferate, teachers increasingly realize that they have to connect with their students as they would in face-to-face classes. They have to provide true opportunities for inspirational and meaningful learning, rather than a sterile experience of clicking within a labyrinth of links.

With the specific purpose of switching emphasis from the technical issues of online teaching to the human implications of teaching and learning through the Internet, Tisha Bender draws on her extensive research, her training of online faculty, and her own online teaching experience, to create a fresh vision of online pedagogy. Discussion-Based Online Teaching to Enhance Student Learning consists of three parts:

Theory
Practice
Assessment

The author shows how she applies learning theories to online discussion-based courses. She presents a wealth of suggestions and techniques, illustrated by real examples, for stimulating and managing online discussion effectively, and for improving teaching practices. The book concludes with methods for assessing the efficacy of online courses.

This accessible and comprehensive book offers an engaging and practical approach to online teaching that is rooted in the author's experience and enthusiasm for creating a virtual environment involves students and fosters deep learning.

This is a book for all educators and administrators in higher education, in any discipline, engaged in, or contemplating offering, online classes that involve discussion or collaborative learning. It is relevant both to faculty teaching a hybrid class (a class taught on campus that also has an online component) and courses that are taught entirely online. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Acknowledgments
Introduction

ch. 1 The Distance Factor
ch. 2 The Optimal Role of the Online Teacher
ch. 3 Rethinking Learning Theory Within the Online Class
ch. 4 Course Design
ch. 5 Starting to Teach the Online Class
ch. 6 Aspects of Online Communication
ch. 7 Innovative Online Teaching Techniques
ch. 8 Opinions About Online Teaching and Learning
ch. 9 Building a Model of Assessment of Online Education

Afterword
Glossary
References
Index

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Teaching Tactic: low stakes writing assignments to improve class discussions.

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A Grinnell College (Iowa) study investigated whether students (n=200) felt that balanced discussion of racial/diversity issues was possible and why they did or did not want to discuss the issues. Most thought balanced discussion was impossible, feared a single viewpoint would dominate, and feared reprisal for speaking against the dominant perspective. Further findings and implications are discussed.

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This teaching piece first invites the instructor to consider four criteria when planning a small-group discussion (class size, type of class, instructor preparedness, size of groups). Then, it briefly describes a great many variations on the small-group discussion, such as the jigsaw, the KWL, the fishbowl, the buzz group, the snowball, and several others. This lesson gives the instructor a solid start on a great many kinds of discussion activities.

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The contributors to Education for Judgement maintain that the elements of great teaching can be identified and consciously practiced. Many of the essays describe the building blocks of successful group leadership: negotiating a "contract" governing the conduct of the group; orchestrating a constructive process of questioning,listening,and responding; encouraging independent thinking; and guiding participants toward useful roles in their interaction with one another. The other chapters in the volume take a broader,more philosophical view of discussion leadership. They cover the ethical considerations of discussion teaching,the special challenges of teaching technical material using this method,and one pioneering effort ot introduce a participative mode of medical education. First-person accounts of discussion leaders' experiences provide useful insights into the joys and pitfalls of teaching by the discussion method. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Forward
Preface

Part 1 Learning and Teaching
ch. 1 Barriers and Gateways to Learning
ch. 2 Premises and Practices of Discussion Teaching

Part 2 Personal Odysseys
ch. 3 Tulips, Tinfoil and Teaching: Journal of a Freshman Teacher
ch. 4 Great Beginnings
ch. 5 Changing Ground: A Medical School Lecturer Turns to Discussion Teaching
ch. 6 Every Student Teaches and Every Teacher Learns: The Reciprocal Gift of Discussion Teaching

Part 3 Building Blocks
ch. 7 Establishing a Teaching/Learning Contract
ch. 8 With Open Ears: Listening and the Art of Discussion Teaching
ch. 9 The Discussion Teacher in Action: Questioning, Listening and Response

Part 4 Critical Challenges
ch. 10 Patterns of Participation
ch. 11 Teaching Technical Material
ch. 12 "To See Ourselves as Others See Us": The Rewards of Classroom Observation
ch. 13 Discovering the Semester
ch. 14 Encouraging Independent Thinking

Part 5..Education for Judgment
ch. 15 Having It by Heart: Some Reflections on Knowing Too Much
ch. 16 Undue Influence: Confessions from an Uneasy Discussion Leader
ch. 17 A Delicate Balance: Ethical Dilemmas and the Discussion Process

Index

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a theoretically based coding framework for an integrated analysis and assessment of critical thinking in online discussion. Design/methodology/approach – The critical thinking assessment framework (TAF) is developed through review of theory and previous research, verified by comparing results to previous research, and checked for reliability by comparing results for multiple coders. Findings – Although process, structure, and quality of online discussions are assessed independently, a standard framework integrating these aspects for comprehensive assessment of critical thinking in online discussions is not found in literature review. The critical TAF described here offers a reliable and valid tool for integrating process, structure, and quality to assess critical thinking in online discussions. Research/limitations/implications – The critical TAF serves as a methodological tool for assessing critical thinking in online discussion. Further research should further assess the validity and reliability of this tool and should integrate the framework with assessments for other aspects of discussion such as social or instructor presence. Practical implications – The implementation of the critical TAF in future studies will ultimately help identify online educational activities and tools which best support development and application of critical thinking skills. Furthermore, it might be used to assess critical thinking of individual participants or small groups in a discussion. Originality/value – The critical TAF described in this paper provides a valid and reliable tool for integrated assessment of the process, structure, and quality of critical thinking in online discussions.

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Engage and enlighten students by skillfully guiding them through thought-provoking classroom discussions using these straightforward strategies. Aligned with the principles of Paideia and Socratic seminars, and packed with real-life examples, this teacher-friendly resource highlights the fundamentals of planning for text-based discourse, the four key factors that shape the teacher’s decision-making during discussions, and tips for problem-solving and fine-tuning facilitation skills. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
ch. 1 The fundamentals of facilitating : why have student-centered discussions?
ch. 2 Safety
ch. 3 Authentic participation
ch. 4 Challenge
ch. 5 Ownership
ch. 6 The facilitator decision-making model
ch. 7 Strategies for ongoing improvement across all the fulcrums
ch. 8 Strategies for improving specific fulcrums

Additional Info:
Techniques for initiating good discussion in class include: examining goals and values, noting concrete images in text, generating questions among students, finding illustrative quotations, small group discussion, generating truth statements, forced debates, role playing, non-structured scene-setting, and eliciting opinoins of the text.

Additional Info:
What is a discussion? No one seems to define it. Lowman (1995, p. 159) suggested: “(A) useful classroom discussion...consists of student comments separated by frequent probes and clarifications by the teacher that facilitate involvement and development of thinking by the whole group.” In this paper, discussion is defined as twoway, spoken communication between the teacher and the students, and more importantly, among the students themselves.

This paper primarily addresses discussion in small classes that meet one or more times a week, or in smaller classes that meet one or more times during the week as part of a course consisting of one or more large lectures each week. Discussions can take the form of recitation, dialogue, and guided or open exchanges. However, many of the suggestions in this paper should also be useful for shorter discussion sessions as part of a lecture class, since discussions are an effective way to get students to actively process what they learn in lectures (Lowman, 1995, p. 161).

Additional Info:
An article that looks at several ways to promote successful classroom discussions to increase students' comfort with the specialized language and methods of a field, develop critical thinking, and develop problem-solving skills.

Additional Info:
Shows how to make learning and teaching by discussion more effective by using an approach that promotes the enhanced creativity of those involved in discussion groups of all types. Explains how to design discussion tasks to teach problem solving, decision making, and interpersonal skills, drawing on modern cognitive psychology and group dynamics. For university teachers, industry trainers, and those in human resources. Distributed by ISBS. Bligh is recognized as a pioneer in university staff development, and maintains consultancies on staff appraisal, training, and professional development. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Part I What can Discussion Achieve?
ch. 1 Discussion is effective, but not efficient, to teach information
ch. 2 Discussion methods can teach thinking
ch. 3 Discussion can develop attitudes, values and motivation
ch. 4 Specific methods teach interpersonal skills
Part II What Discussion Tasks Develop Thought and Attitudes?
ch. 5 Listening and attending
ch. 6 Tasks to help group members understand and talk
ch. 7 The use of reason
ch. 8 Problem-solving
ch. 9 Teaching creativity
ch. 10 Decision-making and judgement
ch. 11 Developing `affect'
Part III What Factors Affect Interaction in Discussion Groups?
ch. 12 What motives and emotions affect group members?
ch. 13 How is a group influenced by its tasks?
ch. 14 Norms, conformity and deviants
ch. 15 Which characteristics of group members make a difference?
ch. 16 Factors related to group size
ch. 17 Group structure and leadership
ch. 18 The history and previous experience of the group
ch. 19 The influence of the environment
ch. 20 Patterns of interaction in small group discussion
Part IV A Developmental Sequence of Discussion Methods
ch. 21 Tutorless groups
ch. 22 Tutorless groups with procedures for particular tasks
ch. 23 Tutor participation in discussion
Appendices
References
Index

Additional Info:
A book excerpt that discusses a variety of ways to improve classroom discussion: getting students to view problems more critically and creatively, analyzing how teachers group students for instruction, pace a discussion, and use questioning and listening to engage students.

Additional Info:
Are you dismayed by the lack of discussion and questioning in your classroom? Good two-way communication can be difficult. Classroom Communication explains how effective strategies can get students out of the "tell me, show me" attitude and into lively participation.

This book offers ideas on how to start and facilitate discussion, utilize group dynamics, and in-corporate discussion participation into grading. Each section ends with questions and suggestions for individual reflection, moving concepts from the page into the classroom. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Preface

Part 1 Readings on Discussion
ch. 1 The Dreaded discussion: Ten ways to start (Peter Frederick)
ch. 2 Classroom structures which encourage student participation (William H. Bergquist, and Steven R. Phillips)
ch. 3 Teaching using discussion (Willilam Ewens)
ch. 4 Improving Discussion (William E. Cahsin, and Philip C. McKnight)
ch. 5 Grading Seminar performance (Edward G. Clarke)
ch. 6 Designing discussions as group inquiry (John H. Clarke)

Part 2 Readings on Questioning
ch. 7 Learning to Question (Ralsph Thompson)
ch. 8 Research Summary: Are professors part of the problem? (Maryellen Weimer)
ch. 9 Questioning in the college classroom (Ronald T. Hyman)
ch. 10 Planning questions (Stephanie Goodwin, and Colleqgues)

Additional Info:
Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of the landmark book Discussion as a Way of Teaching shows how to plan, conduct, and assess classroom discussions. Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill suggest exercises for starting discussions, strategies for maintaining their momentum, and ways to elicit diverse views and voices. The book also includes new exercises and material on the intersections between discussion and the encouragement of democracy in the classroom. This revised edition expands on the original and contains information on adapting discussion methods in online teaching, on using discussion to enhance democratic participation, and on the theoretical foundations for the discussion exercises described in the book.

Throughout the book, Brookfield and Preskill clearly show how discussion can enliven classrooms, and they outline practical methods for ensuring that students will come to class prepared to discuss a topic. They also explain how to balance the voices of students and teachers, while still preserving the moral, political, and pedagogic integrity of discussion. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
ch. 1 Discussion in a democratic society

ch. 2 How discussion helps learning and enlivens classrooms

ch. 3 Preparing for discussion

ch. 4 Getting discussion started

ch. 5 Keeping discussion going through questioning, listening, and responding

ch. 6 Keeping discussion going through creative grouping

ch. 7 Discussion in culturally diverse classrooms

ch. 8 Discussing across gender differences

ch. 9 Keeping students' voices in balance

ch. 10 Keeping teachers' voices in balance

ch. 11 Understanding the dynamics of online discussion

ch. 12 Creating the conditions for online discussion

ch. 13 How theory can inform discussion practice

ch. 14 Discussion groups as democratic learning laboratories

ch. 15 Evaluating discussion

Additional Info:
Click Here for Book Review
If you have ever been apprehensive about initiating classroom discussion, fearing silences, the domination of a couple of speakers, superficial contributions, or off-topic remarks, this book provides strategies for creating a positive learning experience.

Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson demonstrate how to create the conditions to facilitate deep and meaningful learning as well as to assess the effectiveness of discussions. They identify, analyze, and solve common problems in both classroom and online discussions and in both small and large classes. They take a direct, practice-oriented approach that, in acknowledging common challenges, provides principles, guidance on design, examples of activities and techniques, and eight detailed case studies. These cases demonstrate successful approaches that faculty across disciplines and from a variety of institutions have adopted in their face-to-face, blended, or online courses at the undergraduate or graduate level.

The case authors begin by describing the original pedagogical challenge they faced and explain how they addressed it and assessed the results of their innovation. They also offer practical recommendations to readers who may want to try their strategies.

Intended for faculty, this book will be equally valuable for educational developers who can use this resource in their programs and private consultations. At the graduate level, this book can serve as a text or workshop resource in college teaching courses and teaching assistant development programs. The final chapter provides a set of resources and activities – including discussion questions on the case studies, writing prompts, and jigsaw formats – that are equally appropriate for individual study or for use in workshop environments.

You’ll never again have to suffer such a profound silence that, as described by a contributor to the book, she could hear the crickets chirping outside. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Foreword—Stephen D. Brookfield

Preface

Acknowledgements

Ch 1. The Strengths and Challenges of Discussion—Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson
Ch 2. Getting All Students Engaged—Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson
Ch 3. Preventing and Responding to Common Discussion Pitfalls—Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson
Ch 4. Connecting Discussion With Learning—Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson
Ch 5. Gauging the Effectiveness of a Discussion—Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson
Ch 6. Learning and Interpreting History Through Deliberative Dialogue—Mary Jo Festle
Ch 7. How Coteaching and Other Strategies Promote Lively Student Engagement—Matthea Marquart and Mary Ann Drury
Ch 8. Got Introverts? Get CAE (Collaborative Autoethnography)—Mary Shapiro
Ch 9. Using a Contemplative Pedagogy to Promote Discussion in a First-Year Seminar—Jennifer W. Shewmaker
Ch 10. Avoiding Crickets by Creating an Orchestra of Students—Billy Strean
Ch 11. Spicing Up Students’ Education: The Use of Course-Based Undergraduate Research to Foster Student Communication—Heather Townsend
Ch 12. Applying Students’ Insights for Engaging Inquiry in a Blended Course—Janelle DeCarrico Voegele
Ch 13. Solve Several Online Course Challenges With Student Critiques of Primary Literature—David M. Wilson
Ch 14. Faculty Discussion Group Resources—Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson

References

About the Authors and Contributors

Index

Additional Info:
An exhaustive analysis of how to use discussion effectively in the classroom, from a pamphlet by Katherine K. Gottschalk, Cornell University.

Additional Info:
Do you need a resource that you can pull out of your pocket to liven up meetings, trainings, professional development, and teaching? The fifty easily applied techniques in this timely manual spur creativity, stimulate energy, keep groups focused, and increase participation. Whether you're teaching classes, facilitating employee training, leading organizational or community meetings, furthering staff and professional development, guiding town halls, or working with congregations, The Discussion Book is your go-to guide for improving any group process.

Each of the concrete techniques and exercises is clearly described with guidance on selection and implementation, as well as advice on which pitfalls to avoid. All of the techniques:
- Offer new ways to engage people and energize groups
- Get employees, students, colleagues, constituents, and community members to participate more fully in deliberative decision-making
- Encourage creativity and openness to new perspectives
- Increase collaboration and build cohesive teams
- Keep groups focused on important topics and hard-to-address issues

Derived from the authors' decades of experience using these exercises with schools, colleges, corporations, the military, social movements, health care organizations, prisons, unions, non-profits, and elsewhere, The Discussion Book will help you guide discussions that matter. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Preface
User Guide
Acknowledgments
The Authors
Introduction

ch. 1 Circle of Voices
ch. 2 Chalk Talk
ch. 3 Circular Response
ch. 4 Newsprint Dialogue
ch. 5 Today’sMeet
ch. 6 Giving Appreciation: The Appreciative Pause–Sticky Note Plaudit
ch. 7 Rotating Stations
ch. 8 Snowballing
ch. 9 Conversational Moves
ch. 10 Critical Incident Questionnaire (CIQ)
ch. 11 Strategic Questioning
ch. 12 Open-ended Questions
ch. 13 Nominating Questions
ch. 14 If You Could Only Ask One Question
ch. 15 On-the-Spot Questions and Topics
ch. 16 What Do You Think?
ch. 17 Clearness Committee
ch. 18 Team Modeling
ch. 19 Question Brainstorm
ch. 20 Narrative Listening and Questioning
ch. 21 Participation Rubric
ch. 22 Critical Conversation Protocol
ch. 23 What Are You Hearing?
ch. 24 Understanding Check
ch. 25 StandWhere You Stand
ch. 26 Think-Pair-Share
ch. 27 Drawing Discussion
ch. 28 Musicalizing Discussion
ch. 29 Structured Silence
ch. 30 Writing Discussion
ch. 31 QuickWrites
ch. 32 Cocktail Party
ch. 33 Bohmian Dialogue
ch. 34 Methodological Belief
ch. 35 Justifiable Pressure
ch. 36 Hatful of Quotes
ch. 37 Quotes to Affirm and Challenge
ch. 38 Jigsaw
ch. 39 Titling the Text
ch. 40 Critical Debate
ch. 41 SingleWord Sum-Ups
ch. 42 Setting Ground Rules
ch. 43 Canvassing for Common Ground
ch. 44 Dramatizing Discussion
ch. 45 Deliberative Polling
ch. 46 Participatory Decision Making
ch. 47 Mutual Invitation
ch. 48 The Three-Person Rule
ch. 49 Conversational Roles
ch. 50 Facilitator Summary

Bibliography
Index