Suggestion 63. Create an appropriate physical setting for discussion

IF YOU WANT TO:

• Encourage class discussion

• Create a climate for discussion

• Decrease student to teacher exchanges

Creating an appropriate physical setting for the discussion.

It is difficult for students to talk to people they cannot see. In a typical classroom, with fixed seats facing forward, students tend to direct their comments to the front of the room - to the teacher - rather than to other students. This arrangement encourages one-to-one dialogues rather than group discussion. If, on other hand, students can see each other, they are more likely to interact with one another as well as with the teacher.

A circle or U-shaped arrangement of chairs is the most useful for discussion. Instructors also find that if they sit with the students rather than stand or sit on a table, it helps promote true class discussion in place of student-faculty exchanges.

Limitations on Use of Suggestion

  Discipline:  None
Course Level:  None
 Course Size:  Classes of fewer than 50 students
        Mode:  None

Copyright 1983 by the Regents of the University of California

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