At its best, democracy isn’t just “rule by the people” or even “rule of, by, and for the people.” It’s rule by people who listen to each other.
Wisconsin’s Republican leadership has turned a deaf ear to one house of… Read More »
Category Archives: Education
On Wisconsin
A Brief Description of the Interactivity Foundation Discussion Process*
As our catalogue of “Perspectives” grows, it’s probably useful to reconsider from time to time some of the basics of the IF process. That’s what I want to do here, all the while recognizing that the process is in some… Read More »
Also posted in Perspectives Tagged IF discussion process, interactivity, small groups Leave a comment
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Extending the Student-Centered Approach to Public Discussions
IF’s approach to classroom discussion is “student-centered” both in the sense that students do the facilitating and in the sense that students shoulder much of the responsibility for shaping the curriculum, as well. As a result, IF-styled classroom discussions reflect… Read More »
The IF Method in a science course
Human Health and the Environment is a course offered in the Biology Department for science credit that integrates concepts in ecology and public health through the study of environmental threats to human health. The course also explores connections among the… Read More »
Engaging Abstract Topics
Environmental public health issues are general perceived by most Americans as abstract, because few people suffer the direct consequences of environmental degradation. To combat ambivalence over abstract topics, I have found it important to bring the discussion of these issues… Read More »
How have your group dynamics been working?
As I mentioned in my first blog, I had to reshuffle the groups largely based upon a comment made by one very high achieving senior male student who half heartedly complained after the first SLD that he had been looking… Read More »
Blog Prompt #1: How are you setting up student groups in your IF class?
Organization of Student Led Discussions (SLDs)
I had 16 students in my Human Health and the Environment course, most of whom were either seniors or juniors and therefore exhibited greater confidence and comfort in an unstructured format.
These students were… Read More »
‘Academic English for Legal Purposes’, IF-Style, in Georgia
Ekaterine ‘Keke’ Bakaradze is Associate Professor of Law and Education Quality Assurance Manager at International Black Sea University in Tbilisi, Georgia. She was also a participant in the 50-Hour Training Course in the IF Discussion Process that IF Fellows Mark Notturno and Ieva Notturno… Read More »
Learning from Experience
A couple weeks ago, I facilitated a public discussion on Anticipating Genetic Technology with a group of individuals residing in the borough of Queens in New York City, and I wanted to comment on how different the process was from… Read More »
Posted in Education Tagged citizen discussions, facilitation, learning by doing Leave a comment
Sanctuary Discussion*
At the mention of “citizen discussion,” we tend to conjure up images of rapid-fire, heated exchanges between partisans, often in the glare of the media spotlight. Haste, partisan heat, and intense public scrutiny may to some extent be inevitable features… Read More »
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