{"id":12624,"date":"2012-12-14t08:00:30","date_gmt":"2012-12-14t13:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?p=12624"},"modified":"2012-12-18t15:38:52","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18t20:38:52","slug":"ask-professor-pedagogy-crickets-crickets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/2012\/12\/ask-professor-pedagogy-crickets-crickets\/","title":{"rendered":"ask professor pedagogy: crickets, crickets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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ask professor pedagogy<\/strong> is a twice monthly advice column written by 2022年世界杯中国小组赛积分 staff. one aspect of our mission is to cultivate dialogue about teaching and learning, so we welcome questions and concerns that arise in the classroom; particularly those from vanderbilt faculty, students, and staff. if you have a question that you’d like professor p to address, please send it to us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

do you hear that professor pedagogy?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

it’s the crickets chirping in the silence that follows when i ask a question in my discussion section. how do i get my students to speak up?\u00a0i think i am preparing well enough: i read and re-read the discussion materials and so i know the material really, really well. and a lot of the material is interesting but when i ask them to share their thoughts, no one raises a hand. so then i start talking and the class turns into a mini-lecture with me just talking. in all honesty, the class looks relieved when i start these mini-lectures instead of enduring the painful silence that follows my opening question. what can i do?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

ta in history<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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dear not discussing discussion leader,<\/p>\n

it sounds as if your class has turned into a session of the\u00a0poliltburo<\/em> instead of a discussion section. it is a common enough problem and there is hope for reform of your regime. let\u2019s start with your preparation and then move into class discussion techniques that may help spark some engagement before proceeding into some common tips for dealing with the class itself.<\/p>\n

my first suggestion is to put yourself in your students\u2019 seats for a while<\/strong>. you say you know the material well and of that i have little doubt and i am sure your students recognize it as well. in fact, it may be that the some of the students are intimidated by your deep knowledge and may feel their comments have little value compared to your erudition.<\/p>\n

instead of concentrating on a deep understanding of the material for yourself, try to structure the class based on some simple objectives that are focused on student learning. prepare questions ahead of time that lead students toward some goals for that session.\u00a0 in other words, work backwards from what you want the students to know. in my experience, i have asked myself what are the three things the students must absolutely remember from the session and why? answer those questions and design discussions to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n

my next suggestion is to get your students warmed up!<\/strong> instead of diving into material, get them talking about movies, sports, tv shows, etc. after about five minutes, you could segue into the material. begin by asking about the material as it appears. what is it? what is the argument? what is the author trying to show or prove? then move into questions that evaluate the material as it is. does the argument work? is it inconsistent with its own premises? these sorts of questions help students establish a shared point of understanding that ground discussions of more abstract concepts and personal perspectives.<\/p>\n

after having the class explore the internal characteristics of the material, you can then get them to think about the external characteristics. ask for examples of how this point of discussion connects to the larger themes of the class. does it connect with other materials from the unit? if so, how do they connect? finally, the class may discuss the materials from a more critical perspective. what do you think about this material personally? how does it relate to your understanding of some of the larger issues addressed in class.<\/p>\n

professor p also suggests:<\/strong><\/p>\n