Charu's Reading Notes #3

I really liked this week readings particularly because I love to incorporate this kind of learning method in my COMM 110 class. I truly believe that an alternative to straight lecture is class discussion. Throughout the classes, which I have taken in my undergrad level, I have always been afraid of class discussions. But it seems strange to me that now I am in more favor to incorporate this teaching method in my own classes.

I think whole-group discussions are more interactive and effective than teacher simply telling the students the study material. This teaching technique has the advantage of involving students much more in the learning process.

After going through this week’s readings I noticed that I usually do the opposite of what Davis mentions on pg. 122, to wait 10-15 seconds after asking a questions for students to respond. What I usually do is I ask a question from students, then I just wait for about three seconds, and then I provide the answer, which I guess, totally contradicts with Davis suggestion. Whereas after reading Davis suggestion I think one of the most important skills in teacher’s arsenal is the ability to question effectively and that wait time is one of the most important components of effective questioning.

I really like the idea of post-it note or poker chips (Lang p. 100, Davis p. 108). Before reading this chapter I have already tried using this strategy in my COMM 110 class and it really worked well. I didn’t used poker chips or post-it note rather I awarded students with extra points using the different colors of cards. So if 1 student participated and answered my question then I gave him yellow card and if the same student answered it again then I gave him green card. I specified in the beginning of the discussion that yellow card meant 1 point and green card meant 2 points, and then emphasizing that every student can only get 2 points. I felt students seemed more attentive and interesting in the discussions. By using this strategy I was very well able to limit the number of students who usually dominate the discussions. 

Furthermore, Davis presents some great ways to increase student participation (pg. 107-108). I totally agree with Davis point that dividing students into smaller groups to get them talking, will at least get students more comfortable with speaking within a smaller group and then with the entire class. I have also got some positive feedback from students on incorporating this technique in my class and mainly because they get-to-know each other better. However, sometime I feel that I’ll have trouble getting students to participate especially in my 3:30 section where all of my students are already tired and exhausted from there busy class schedule. I really wanted to know some of the other additional successful techniques that other teachers have incorporated in order to overcome this type of problem.

Overall, I think both authors have presented some really helpful techniques to encourage classroom discussion. I’m looking forward to try some of the new ideas in my COMM 110 sections.