DISCUSSION PATTERNSONLINE

Lenny Shedletsky

TEACHER AND TA INFLUENCE ON UNDERGRADUATE DISCUSSION

TEACHER (or TA) INVOLVEDWhat do you notice for a pattern?

teacher

TA

WITH TEACHER (or TA) INVOLVED

• Students respond to the teacher (or TA);• The teacher (or TA) responds to the student;• The students rarely respond to one another;• Look again--

WITHOUT TEACHER INVOLVEMENTWhat do you notice for a pattern?

HERE IS WHAT I NOTICE

• Without teacher involvement in the discussion, students either post and flee—i.e., no interaction, or:

• They occasionally respond to one another;• Look again at an example of post and flee;• Look at students responding to one another;• Look at students post but do not respond to e

ach other—where there is 2 posts, it is the teacher responding;

STUDENTS POST IN PARALLEL—they each post and flee

Every post with more than 1 total post is the teacher responding

    Another unsuccessful silence exercise...Amanda Munroe5/23/08 9:59 PM

      Most Unfortunate GroupthinkKevin Benjamin6/10/08 3:13 PM                   RE:Most Unfortunate Groupthink Leonard Shedletsky6/11/08 8                                  RE: Most   Unfortunate GroupthinkKevin Benjamin      6/12/08 5:03 PM

POST and FLEETEACHER RESPONDS TO STUDENT & STUDENT RESPONDS TO TEACHER

HERE ARE 2 PATTERNS THAT TEACHERS COMPLAIN ABOUT

WITHOUT THE TEACHER (or TA)

SO WHAT IS A TEACHER TO DO?• I suppose if you wish to have a Socratic dialogue, engage the individual;

• If you wish to have students engage one another, stay out of it;

• When do students engage one another?– An educated hunch is:

• When they are moved by topics that matter to them;• When they need one another to complete an

assignment;• When they are not following the rule, “I must respond

to the person with more power and status.”