For the second summer, we met online with several faculty members who are teaching their courses using IF’s discussion method and/or discussion guides. We began by talking about IF courses that were taught in the 2017-2018 academic year, but then focused on questions and concerns about upcoming IF courses.

This hour-long discussion took place online via Zoom on June 14th. There were five participants: Philip Benesch from the Lebanon Valley College, Taiyi Sun from the Christopher Newport University, Shannon Wheatley Hartman from Haverford College, Jeff Prudhomme, and Ieva Notturno. The former 3 have taught courses using the IF method in the last academic year.  

We exchanged ideas and explored many different topics, including: different models for an IF classroom, the best length for IF classroom discussions, how students from different disciplines adapt to IF discussions, some effects of IF discussions on students that we observed, and applications of the IF discussion method outside the classroom.

We will continue our conversations in various forms. Email me (at [email protected]) if you would like to join the conversation, share your experiences, learn more about IF classroom discussions, or have access to the different materials, such as syllabi and rubrics, that we use in IF classrooms.