IF YOU WANT TO:
Explaining the purpose of discussion.
To get students involved in class discussion, it is helpful to explain the value of their participation and what they can expect to get out of the experience.
A professor of business administration stresses the importance of explaining the benefits of discussion with students. "Students don't know how to participate in a seminar so I make a point of telling them what skills they will acquire: how to speak and discuss their ideas, how to listen and respond to others' ideas."
In seminars, especially, many faculty members find that it is worthwhile taking some time to teach the students how to listen to others, how to paraphrase, how to involve other members of the group. "Students have to understand that in a seminar they share the responsibility for making the discussion a worthwhile experience for us all," says one social science teacher. "This is a new idea for most of them."
Limitations on Use of Suggestion
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