News
Practicing What We Teach?
How well do we follow the collaborative discussion practices we try to teach to others? Dr. Gloria Benson taught a course on Discussion Facilitation. Most of the grade in the class was based upon students’ facilitation performance, but she also used a written...
Using Reinforcing Questions to Expand Discussions
Expanding perspectives to avoid groupthink and promote cognitive empathy Professor Stephanie Taggart was concerned about one of her discussion groups. Since her classes largely attracted female students, she tried to place a male in each discussion group. In one...
Insight Journals and Collaborative Learning, Part Two
Encouraging the practice of self-reflection Pamela Washburn was convinced to try out the use of insight journals (check out Part One on Insight Journals) in her class after seeing how effective they were in Dr. Anderson’s class. But as she was putting together her...
The Future of Sports and Justice? Join an Exploratory Conversation
How might sports connect to social progress? A sense of fair play, of having a level playing field, has always been essential for sports. What if leveling the playing field in society can start by leveling the playing field in sports? What role could or should...
Insight Journals and Collaborative Learning, Part One
How could collaborative discussions and insight journals enhance student learning? Dr. Washburn dropped in to observe her colleague Gretchen Anderson’s class during one of their discussion sessions. Generally, Anderson used Thursday classes for a student-centered...
New Discussion Materials !!!
The Interactivity Foundation has new discussion materials to share. These discussion guides were developed through exploratory discussions in our small-group, online discussion events. You can use them to help discuss these topics with neighbors, colleagues,...
Hearing Anew
Inclusive accommodations as a path to enhancing learning for all Before the semester started, Dr. Evelyn Walters was contacted by one of the university's Special Needs Coordinators. Henry Barrow, the coordinator, explained that Jake, one of Walters’ students, was...
Discussion Matters
As we approach the upcoming fall elections, we hear a lot about the importance of voting. To that, we’d like to say an emphatic “yes—and.” Yes, voting is essential for democracy. Get out there and do it! And we need to practice other forms of democratic...
What IF…? The Future of Sports and Fitness–the Second of Four Conversations
Sports for all of life, and for the life of all Sports and fitness activities can play an important role in boosting health and to promote healthier communities overall. This topic was a dimension of sports and fitness activities uncovered in the first of our...
Discussion Sensitivity
How can we help students to be sensitive to contrasting perspectives? Dr. Jerry Watson was disturbed when one of his students walked out of his Moral Issues class. It was during the class discussions so Watson left his seat to go after the student. The student,...
