Discussion Leadership

TUT 100 - Virtue in Animal and Machine - Professor Weinman

Groups have two assets that exceed those of any individual in the group: they possess more knowledge and they can think in a greater variety of ways.

- Norman R. F. Maier, Problem-Solving Discussions and Conferences. Leadership methods and skills (1963).

Summary:

You will lead your peers in a discussion activity based on our readings.

Purpose:

You will have opportunities

To practice leadership and oral communication skills
To think creatively about teaching and learning
To dig more deeply and broadly into our readings and the related literature

Due:

There are two categories of due dates.

Sign-Up:: 10 pm, Monday 30 September
Leading:: Variable. See the course Wiki on PioneerWeb for sign-up times.
Preparation:: Variable. Three days before the class session you'll lead.

Background

By now you have witnessed several in-class discussions and we have talked about their purpose and what makes them worthwhile. Now you will get the chance to lead your peers in two class discussions this semester. One will be on a chapter from our text, and another from a primary source related to the day's book chapter.

Objectives

Discussion is not for merely summarizing the reading. Among other things, it is useful for:

Applying abstract principles to concrete examples (or vice-versa)
Evaluating the logic of arguments and their supporting evidence
Practicing problem solving, such as hypothesis formulation, discussing necessary supporting data, evaluating alternatives, etc.
Connecting ideas (from our readings or other disciplines) and identifying relationships among them

Assignment

Sign-Up

Visit the PioneerWeb page for this course and go to the Course Wiki.
On the far right you should see a link for "Discussion Leadership Schedule".
Choose one book (i.e., [WA] or [BP]) chapter you would like to lead a discussion on that still has one of the two available slots open.
Choose one of the primary readings (not from the books) you would like to lead a discussion on that still has one of the two available slots open.
Make sure your choices for 3 and 4 are NOT on the same day.
Click "Edit Wiki Content" at the top of the page.
Add your name to the blank slot for each of your two choices
Click "Submit" at the top (or bottom) of the page to save and publish your choice.
VERIFY that the dates you selected now appear on the page.

Extra Credit

Because we only have eleven, rather than the usual twelve students, there will be one extra chapter leadership slot and one extra primary reading leadership slot available. We will need two individuals to take up these extra slots. Those who do will have an extra 5% possible added to their overall grade (i.e., likely enough to boost you from a B- to a B or a B+ to an A-). I will count the more highly evaluated session for the course and the other as extra credit, so you do not need to designate which is which.

Only the first two people to sign up for three slots, will have the opportunity for this extra credit as reward for service to our community.

Requirements

On your chosen day(s), you will be responsible for leading an in-class discussion for about 30 minutes (minimum of 25, maximum of 40). The format of your discussion is up to you.

Suggestions

The strategy you use to approach one or more of the objectives above (or a different objective) is limited only by your creativity. Some possibilities include (but are not limited to)

Begin by having other students
- provide a quotation from the reading that stands out
- list the main ideas and/or arguments in the reading
- generate questions about the principles or evidence in the reading
- imagine the larger implications of hypotheses from the reading
Pose open-ended questions that are factual or that encourage thinking about applications, problem solving, or connections with other material
Have students work part of the time in pairs or triads to address one of the points above
Role play a research foundation in which some students-the researchers-try to sell the value of the research to the foundation and other students play the role of skeptical reviewers
Structure a debate in which half the class argues one position and the other half argues an alternative.

In any case, you will want to know the main ideas you wish to address and prepare questions (offered written or verbally) that will promote connections among those ideas. The references below might be helpful, also. The two chapters are easily found on the Internet, and the book (with lists of principles and techniques) is available on reserve in Burling Library.

Planning

It is essential that you give yourself enough preparation time that you can become comfortable with the material. You will likely want to begin at least one week in advance, but probably more. This will help you be more confident in your leadership.

To make sure you are prepared sufficiently in advance and to allow for some feedback, you must do two things

E-mail me a discussion proposal containing (please be sure these are plain-text in the body of your e-mail; no attachments!)
- The learning objective(s) of your discussion
- A brief description of your approach
- An estimate of the time you think each component (as appropriate) will take
Meet with me to discuss your proposal.

Both of these must be completed at least three days before your discussion. That means 5 PM Monday for a Thursday discussion or 5 PM Friday for a Tuesday discussion. To be sure I have time to read and respond to your proposal, please e-mail them no later than 8 AM Monday (for Thursdays) or 8 AM Friday.

This planning mechanism will give you time to polish, refine, and flesh-out your discussion plan and incorporate any feedback I may have for you.

Grading

You will be evaluated by your peers (1/3) and me (2/3) using the following criteria:

Content

Demonstrating effective preparation
Providing a coherent and organized structure for discussion
Focusing on appropriate material instead of getting off-topic

Group Process

Providing useful exercises / activities / questions for the class
Encouraging involvement / participation by the entire class

Style

Making effective use of discussion aids (handouts, board, projector, etc.)
Demonstrating energy and enthusiasm for the material

References

[1]: Finkle, D. L. and Monk, G. S. (1983). Teaching and learning groups: Dissolution of the atlas complex. In C. Bouron and R.Y. Garth (Eds.) Learning in groups: New directions for teaching and learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
[2]: Frederick, P. (1981). The dreaded discussion: Ten ways to start. Improving College and University Teaching, 29, 104-114.
[3]: Maier, N. R. F (1963). Problem-solving discussions and conferences: Leadership methods and skills. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Acknowledgments

Adapted from Laura M. Sinnett, "Discussion Leadership Guidelines" (2006).

Original material is Copyright © 2010, 2013 Jerod Weinman, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. All other material is property of the respective owner(s).