Discussions
I have often come up with discussion topics that I feel will "light a fire" underneath my students. One highly debated one came in a criminal justice class when we were discussing prisoner rights. I feel that the students took a lot more from that class than if they had sat and watched a PowerPoint and listened to my lecture. Although it was highly debated, both sides were right and it stayed respectful and was a great learning environment.
"Waking up the minds" is the biggest challenge for me due to having adult learners who work full time. After life application explenation asking open ended questions seem to work most of the time. Often it brings more Questions. There is groups at times that are not inquiring nor ingageing in discussion. Feel free to pass some tips, Zee Zee.
Hi Chris - thanks for your post to the forum. As I have said in many previous responses, one of the best skills we can give our students is the ability to think critically. Great work! Best wishes - Susan
I deal with a lot of classes that have content that has no correct answer - many wrong ones - but no right one. I usually present the problem and ask for solutions. The class then discusses the various right answers and can see the ending of each. That way they get multiple paths to choose, should they ever have a similar issue - But, more importantly, they learn to keep an open mind and see that there can be more than one solution.
I love that approach, Bridget! I teach information technology and some of the most interesting conversations happen when we cover ethics. For instance, we have a topic about biomedical implants. Students get so involved in the discussion that we sometime extend it into the second week (each module is 1 week in length).
That is what I do as well. In addition, I have students prepare questions to challenge the opposing team's understanding and knowledge. Overall, these techniques have proven to be very effective.
That is a good approach. I also like to split the class up into teams and have each side argue a particular position.
