Welcome back to the last day of this coffee course. In today’s post, we discuss some of the common challenges faced in facilitating discussions and how certain risks can be reduced or mitigated. “We are not natural facilitators.” Most teachers in higher education are not trained teachers or facilitators – […]
Part of the goal of the coffee course blog is to build a social learning community (see below for more information). For this first (fun!) activity, take a photo of an object which represents an effective online discussion, post it here and tell us why you’ve chosen the object in […]
Welcome back! Today we’ll look in more detail on how to facilitate effective face-to-face discussions, and unpack the role of the facilitator, as well as offer strategies on how to prepare and design for effective discussions. What is the role of the facilitator? “The discussion teacher is planner, host, moderator, […]
discussion /dɪˈskʌʃ(ə)n/ NOUN The action or process of talking about something in order to reach a decision or to exchange ideas. A conversation or debate about a specific topic. A detailed treatment of a topic in speech or writing. From https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/discussion, downloaded 18/03/2019. Having discussions in class is one of […]
Having discussions in class is one of the most common and embedded methods in university teaching. Discussions can allow for deep and active learning and stimulate critical thinking through interaction, peer to peer learning and the exchange of ideas. But what constitutes an effective discussion? How can we set up […]