Share your ideas about how best to stimulate debate within a forum discussion.
Tips on Stimulating Forum Debates
Probing facts or basic knowledge about a subject that has been posted by a participant can make other participants to explore. In a number of occasions challenging a point made by a participant leads to interrogation of assumptions or conclusions. Furthermore, debate can also be achieved through asking for cause and effect .This enhances discussion within the forum. diagnosis by probing motives or causes allows for further discussion. Other mechanisms fall before the discussion commences like not to allow domination by some members, provision of clear expectations and the facilitator should be visible in the discussion under consideration. Provision of schedule when a discussion is to occur enables the participants to prepare and a result the discussion is likely to be intensive and extensive
Patrick, it's true that interrogating someone's point leads to deep thinking. This makes different people look at the point from different perspectives and may result to acquisition of new knowledge.
@Ikahu deep thinking attracts further discourse. As a result greater contribution. I agree with you
@Etyang. Discouraging domination by some members will give room to others too to contribute.This means the facilitator has to be in control. I like your contribution brother.
@Kimalel I get your point. I support you. we need to carry everyone a long...
@Etyang good points you have there. Discouraging domination is the way to go coz you will be incorporating all.
@Etyang, I agree with your point about providing a schedule for attempting the discussion forums... That is preparing the ground for the discussions to take place successfully.
i concur with you Etyang, probing is very important. infact, it also bring a feeling of presence or availability to the participants.
Tes Etyang it is true. a well thought out discussion critic makes the discussion to contoniue and gives birth to more ideas
yes the expectations should be clearly laid out and the presence of the facilitator. i really agree with you patrick.
@Patrick I agree with you as it was well stipulated in the Dos and Nos one need to encourage, inspire and motivate in any discussion.
@Etyang' i do concur with you.When you avoid domination then everybody is bound to participate. This is good.
Brother Patrick, your ideas are quite pregnant, though I'm finding it rather difficult attempting to control contribution by members, some members nuturally are bound to be more active than others in any any set-up and attempting his fete may discourage some.
Stanley Mutisya
Relevance 2
use of examples 2
contribution to learning community 2
comprehension 2
Written Quality 2
Timeliness 1
Tone 2
Total 13/14
Etyang I concur with your. When you prop you stir the curiosity and that provoke more debate.
Tips on Stimulating Forum Debates
Some of tips are as follow:
- Posing of a probing question that will stimulate participants thinking
- Make every participants feel free through a courteous welcome and respond to any query
- Creation of an all-inclusive environment that is comfortable to all
- Establishment of clear goals and expectations at the onset
- Foster communication between the participants
- A support of communication through other platforms like WhatsAp and email
- Guiding the participants is very prudent. It should be consistent in order to keep the discussion on topic. This means a facilitator has to be in control
In my search for support of for material to support or contribute to the discussion, I came across Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning and got this excerpt that I found relevant to this discussion. My discussion would therefore concur with this:
Effective facilitation of a discussion involves the recognition and employment of different perspectives and different skills to create an inclusive environment. In order to do so, it is important to consider the features of effective discussions, and conditions that promote small group interaction and engagement. Discussion is a powerful mechanism for active learning; a well-facilitated discussion allows the participant to explore new ideas while recognizing and valuing the contributions of others. (https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/sheridan-center/teaching-learning/effective-classroom-practices/discussions-seminars/facilitating)
Edutopia supports this in the following portion:
Discussions can be an excellent strategy for enhancing student motivation, fostering intellectual agility, and encouraging democratic habits. They create opportunities for students to practice and sharpen a number of skills, including the ability to articulate and defend positions, consider different points of view, and enlist and evaluate evidence. (https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/discussions.html
@Geoff very nice presentation brother and with the links you provided I have learnt alot.
@Kimalel, kudos! You have done it again. Very well articulated points you have posted up there. I have learned a lot from the links you have provided here. Well researched work, keep it up bro!
Geoffrey i think the most important aspect here is being objective and focused on the issue in question during the discussion
@Geoffrey kimalel
The point on creating an all inclusive environment is imperative to ensure that the participants feel safe and secure bearing in mind the diversities of the participants.
you have really researched and even the supplementary material from harriet on making sure you create an inclusive environment is very supportive to stimulating online debate forums.
Kimalel, this is quite encouraging. I am reading your points and seeing our facilitators Andrew and Benita. It's like these points just describes them in totality. Good work.
Geofrey you have enriched the discussion. This tell's us the importance of reading widely. By doing so we broaden our knowledge of the subject under discussion. Kudos.
To stimulate debates in forums we should;-
Provide different viewpoints from what others are presenting. If someone feels exam is the way to go, say there should be totally no exam. Then give reasons for your argument e.g. exams encourage acquisition of knowledge only but not skills. Facilitators in Moodle can use this technique to heat up discussions in forums.
Trying to expand a discussion by considering an area that has not been explored by the participants. Thus you can suggest an area that learners can engage in that is relevant to the discussion e.g. when discussing the rubric, suggest the use of rubric in our school setups.
Giving room for healthy arguments that may not necessarily be right. e.g. participants in this course don't require a facilitator.
Facilitators commenting on posts from participants and encouraging others to in the forum to comment on each others' posts. You may not comment on every post (not possible) but let the learners understand you are reading all posts. The facilitator should make more posts replying to the learners.
Set the minimum number of posts to be made per forum. For a learner to complete a forum, each should for instance have 5 posts.
@Ikahu you've really tried to bring out the forgotten avenue about follow up activities and guided chats. Good points
Ikahu you are right. Exploring all possible answers or inputs in an ongoing discussion is the best way to keep a discussion life and healthy. THis makes all on board during a discussion learn from the varied inputs that are acceptable for the ongoing discussion
@barnabas, i agree with you that some times it is necessary to ellicit divergent view from the mainstream, but don't you think some times expressing a view which is against your conviction could seem artificial and even frustrating your feeling? take an example of supporting abotion yet your faith or philosophy of life totally disagree.
Hey Collins, though I advocate for different points of view, I don't support the extremes. You elicit a debate on a grave issue but in a way that all participants would be comfortable discussing. e.g. Are there instances when abortion can be recommended? (going by your example)
@Barnabus Ikahu
The point on the expansion of the discussion the topic is quite in order ......sometimes participants do not like exploring areas that seems challenging to them but by asking /posing thought provoking questions that engages them in meaningful debate will ensure comprehension of the topic i.e known to unknown and hence meaningful and lively debate or discussion.
@barnabas true presenting different views can make the debate be" hot" and this stimulates it.
@Barnabas I agree with you. However, encouraging debate to go ahead amidst assertions that may not be right from participants may have its own moral and professional challenges. It would be necessary that the facilitators constantly monitors the progress of the debate and ensures that the final conclusions are well informed and fact based. The premise must justify the conclusion.
Best way to stimulate debate within a forum discussion
- Making everyone feel welcome and this will encourage the participant to contribute.
- acknowledging contribution by the participant by supporting their points while posing questions to provoke knowledge deepening.
- providing support through emails especially when participant experience technical challenges.
- keeping discussion within the provided topic so that all participant may feel on board other than feeling lost.
@Jason good points you have there especially the mechanism you'll use to curb digression.
Ihai, I want to stress the need for acknoledging everyone on board. All feel accepted and ready to participate. Though at times some may be irrelevant to the point, its always healthy to correct them lovingly
Yes, Antony, acknowledge them and correct!
Yes Antony.. Lovingly this encourage the participant.
@jason, you have listed very practical ways of elliciting a good atmosphere in any forum. more please.
@jason i support you that it is very important to lay down the important to lay down the floor so that the participants can feel free before the debate starts.
@Ruth thanks for the reassurance and support
@jason indeed your argument is within logic in regard to the topic. If this is done, the discussion would be stimulating.
Brother Jason you are perfectly on the point, though, don't you think it will prove tedious maintaining online presence?
Be focused
Think ahead of time about where your members need to go it does help to think about the individual needs of your members as you're looking over the upcoming session. Also, have questions in your upcoming group session to fit the needs of your group. relevancy is important.
Be a Guide
you should learn to use guiding statements to keep the session headed in the right direction. Guiding statements are simple modifications that can be dropped in right after the question. For example:
- Let's each take 5 minutes to respond to this question.
- What one word summarizes your feelings?
- This is a good warm-up question. How about two of you giving us your answer on this one. these will surely resuscitate boredom.
Rephrase/ reshape
You can also rephrase the question and ask it again. If the discussion drifts off topic, it can be redirected by rephrasing and taking a second pass. This makes the participants jolt back to the day's topic. also some may have gotten it wrong from the beginning,
Redirect
Also try and use redirecting statements as necessary to help keeping things on topic. It is a polite way shut deviation off the topic. some good ideas may develop and change the direction of the discussion statements like
- That sounds like something we should discuss another time.
- Let's keep working on this question. We may have time for that one later. These may help bring or restore participants to the topic.
Encourage
Affirm your members when they make progress on the right way. it takes some effort one to come up with the correct answers or expectation hence need for some sort of encouragement. It boosts the morale of members and enhance more to come up with ground breaking points. For example:
- That's great! Thank you for sharing that.
- we need more of that.
I am impressed by the encouragement point. It keeps one willing to give more
@Stanley Mutisya
There you have it. On the point of rephrasing to ensure the discussion is focused and meets the goals of what is being discussed..this is very paramount in curbing irrelevancy ,for example, how Andrew paraphrased the discussion topic on online presence for easy comprehension.
@Stanley & @Mary, in a class of say 25 learners, it is difficult to have all learners understand the questions in the same way. Different individuals with different interpretations. It is therefore important to rephrase, paraphrase, reword, restate or even interpret to encourage participation. Some will avoid participating because they are not sure of what is required of them. I agree with your point there.
@Ikahu the rephrase, paraphrase, reword, restate or even interpret to encourage participation is true. I had to call my facilitator on the first unit. She helped me by replying my posts and asking me guiding questions which in the process of answering i got to understand what am doing.
I even saw it with other participants and it worked.
@Mutisya i like your points especially the last one'encourage'...when i started the course i was not that confident with my discussions in the forum bt one of my facilitators told me that he likes my work. I felt encouraged and more keen i reading other posts and commenting. Something in me was 'stimulated' and 'debates within forum dissussion' became interesting to me. Imagine tje power of encouraging.
@stanley those are very valuable skills that a facilitator should have.
Mutisya sure, I like your point there about rephrasing a question to keep the discussion on track.
Yes Stanley I like the point on rephrasing. This reminds the participant to recheck an omission and alert on being skeptical.
The main aim of an online discussion is to help students learn from each other. An instructor should ensure that:
. Social Forums
Set up forums that adddress the social dimension before the start of the facilitation. This acts like a meeting forum because the learners introduce themselves and they get to know who they will be interacting with.
• Questioning technique.
Students benefit from the discussions by using clear, open-ended questions that tap into the higher-order-thinking levels of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Move to challenging discussions after ensuring that students have posted their sentiments and you haven’t lost any.
• Assign responsibilities
Give the learners different roles to ensure active participation by all. The roles may include having a coordinator whose role is to keep the group focused on the task and equalize participation, a time manager, and another may be watch on decorum watch to ensure the ground rules are followed. This may be on rotational basis.
• Talk less and listen more.
For effectiveness, it's important that you talk less and listen more during the facilitation process. It's important to remember that you are there to not only offering your knowledge and experience, but also to help learners become fully involved in their own learning
• Reflect beforehand
As a facilitator, reflect in advance how students will respond to the discussion questions. Be ready for divergent directions. Ensure you plan possible follow-up questions to help ensure that your discussion objectives get met. • Decide who will control discussion topics. In order to have your students involved, one can set all discussion topic areas in advance; to give students time to research on discussion areas. It’s also of great importance if you communicate the roles for each learner.
Feedback
Always ask for feedback and communicate accordingly.
Talking less and listening more is a very important vitue on online facilitation skills
@Lucy quite elaborate discourse. It is helpful and handy. great work and input
@Lucy Wanja
you points are good especially on delegation of duties as it will ensure ownership and hence active participation.
@lucy those points are very important especially feedback is very vital.
@lucy you are really comprehensive in giving these points. Indeed when this is done, the discussion would be meaningfull and stimulating.
As a moderator its important o talk less and listen more during a discussion
Wanja my sister I admire your contribution, your approach has simply killed it, Tis quite smart.
For successful discussions or debates to happen, there should have been adequate preparedness both on the part of the mover of the debate item and the participant(s) of the motion. This is in terms of resourcefulness of the content matter of discussion. To this end, there is need for provision of support materials from where participants may draw enormous points/content for contribution to the discussion.
Posing activity questions whose responses elicit discussion/explanation drawn from an individual's perspective and reasoning may work a trick at stimulating debates. These particular activities may be geared towards requirement to give procedures, processes, flow charts, causes or effects to a particular phenomenon. In such a case, subjective questions should come in handy, against the objective ones where usually the result is Yes/No response.
Consequently, it is paramount to create a calm and conducive environment that freely elicits a response from the participants in reaction to the task posed..
YEs in deed. a mover should be well prepared to give support along the way.
@peter i agree with you the questions should provoke discussion.
@mwangoma the point you have given can really make a discussion to be stimulating. With no doubt, the facilitator has to adapt and put in use to some of these suggested tips.
I agree with you Peter. Questions requiring yes/no answers cannot stimulate a debate.
For any debate to be sustainable, motivating, interesting and relevant, you must deliberately deploy some of the following techniques.
- Avoid using big vocabularies or very technical language or wanting to be seen very scholarly. I have a feeling that doing so, will create a tense learning environment.
- Post precise but interesting subjects for discussion. This will promote the participants to be relevant in their contributions.
- Appreciate every contributor’s view point and only ask the participants questions that will help to re-direct them when you realize they are getting off from the real issue.
- Your style of language in all posts should be informal yet professional, friendly yet issue focused and relaxed yet addressing serious issue being discussed. My experience has taught me that doing so, aids in easing off participants to contribute freely without anxiety.
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- Occasionally but in an amicable manner express your contrary view and challenge the participants to respond. This will assist you as a facilitator to engage the critical mind of the participants. You will agree with me that in many occasions forum debates always shape up to a similar dimension.
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Collins, the issue of simple and clear language is a very important part of communication. Online facilitators should embrace it
very true @collins the language should be at the level of the participants understanding to enable a good discussion environment.
@Collins, truly, an interesting topic will in itself be a motivating factor to a stimulating discussion.
As a contributor critic the input in a healthy manner as you give your input. As well avoid personalising a topic and clinging to own ideas without accepring others ideas
@Anthony, if a facilitator personalizes a debate, the learners fail to own and they keep off. It is important that a facilitator give room for other people's views.
You are right Anthony/Barnabas. Facilitators should be able to accommodate participants views as well to stimulate the debate.
Forum debates and discussion is a vital tool when it comes to online participation and therefore it should be lively and accomodative.The following are some of the ways in which it can be stimulated:
Setting achievable goals and providing clear instructions to avoid frustration and withdrawal.
Delegation of duties to make participants own the discussion for example having some to keep time,another one to moderate the discussion with your assistance and still others to summarize the discussion after this also encourages active participation and enhances leadership skills among the participants.
Provide prompts and cues to questions that might however be not clear to ensure smooth continuity of the discussion.
Asking the participants questions that will inspire productive conversations throughout the discussion forum.
Maintaining an environment of mutual respect and safety by letting the participants know that each one's opinion counts.
Constant motivation and appraising of the participants and correcting those not following the discussion objective and rules that govern the discussion.
Last but not least be a role model in for example keeping time,providing feedback and constant communication to your participants through watsup ,e-mail Tec this encourages their efforts.
very right @mary the facilitator should be a role model and also a mentor.
A well articulated point; a facilitator must set the standards. If s/he is not available and doesn't take part in the discussions, the same should be expected from the participants.
The main character a facilitator should have is to allow the learners to air their views without being subjective, not to be carried away by personal view on a topic.
This is true Barnabas.
@kisach the idea of providing prompts and cues is great, this would help participants thinks logically.
Yes Mary! Respect and safety provide a conducive environment for sustaining the online debate.
This can be doneas you:
- provide a conducive environment for the debate.-let them feel comfortable in the platform and free.
- pose questions that are relevant and thought provoking.-the question should be able to provoke more discussion. they should also be easy to understand to the participants.
- Don't dominate the discussion forum.-allow other participants to participate and feel possession of the learning or the discussion forum. this will be a learner centered activity.
- offer guidance to participants.
- Encourage participants by coordination.-you can be silent and then pose a comment after sometime. in this way you are able to coordinate and ensure presence.
- use grammatically correct language.Use proper language.Spelling errors, and mixed up sentences reflect on you; correct spelling and grammatical construction are a must, so keep in mind to read through your posts before you submit them. Moreover, try to avoid slang words as much as possible, as this is also an online education environment and slang is considered neither academic, nor professional. Don't type in all caps; writing in all capital letters is regarded as shouting, and this, apart from being annoying, it could be considered rude.
- Be precise.
to avoid misunderstanding and confusion to your readers. The best way to test your messages for clarity is to read them aloud before you send them; this way, you will be able to see if they make sense. - Avoid emoticons and “texting” writing.
Using emoticons and writing in “texting” language, that is by using abbreviations, might be considered too casual or even childish; refrain from them as much as possible. Online discussions require professional writing; smiley faces or linguistic shortcuts are more appropriate for chatting with your friends or instant messaging. - Be explanatory.
Points can be easily missed if hidden in a flood of text; when making a thorough comment, be as brief as possible.post points individually in more than one focused messages, rather than in a long, overly wordy paragraph. - avoid posting messages that contain only a few words and generic statements, such as “I agree with you”. just explain a little bit.
Your points are good Ruth! The dos and donts you have advanced will help generate a debate in a forum.
@Ruth, your points are well explained. Setting the discussion environment to be conducive to all participants is crucial. Let all the participants know that they can post their feelings freely.
@Ruth, this is great. I especially like the fact about texting .
Demonstrate relevance
You will agree with me that we consume a certain type of food or even fruit as much when we get to know its nutritional value in our bodies. Same case applies to forum discussions.
According to Carnegie Mellon University it is helpful to tell students up front how you think the skill they gain from participating in discussions will help them in academic and future pursuit.
Having this in mind the participants will be engaged fully in the discussions knowing they will gain as much from the activity.
Encourage.
Who wouldn't love to be appreciated through words like good work,i love your work, this really shows that you reseached well......etc.
I am a beneficiary of encouragment from my facilitators.Participants will atruve to participate and show their best. If all of your25 participants strive to bring their best how well will that discussion be.
Irene you are on point! When your learners know what is expected of them in a certain subject, then they are able to do research or even read ahead of the teacher. This a good tip for a facilitator.
I agree with you Irene. An encouraged participant does their best to generate good points in debates.
@Irene, indeed encouragement is vital. A facilitator needs to commend and appreciate good effort made by a learner in coming up with good ideas/points that are relevant to topic under discussion.
Tips on stimulating forum debate:
A debate can be stimulated by allowing the participants to be free to reply to their peer posts. The facilitator can also go a head to give a minimum number of post every participant should make to their colleagues posts.This will create a hot and stimulating debate.
The facilitator can also provide a provoking debate question where all participant are required to give their diverse opinion. It will also be in order to moderate the discussion by say asking for support points from the participants for every argument they make. In so doing, the debate would be stimulating.
Some arguments in discussion topics should be supported by references if need be. In any case that the participants quotes direct words from a certain individual, there is need for the participants to acknowledge the actual words and direct quotes. This would make the participants to support their stands meaningfully in the discussion.
A stimulating debate should be one with diverse opinions from participants. Critical thinking is required in giving a reply to any post. The participants should be made to employ this skill so as to create a meaningful discussion. One should not just accept someone's opinion without questioning.The facilitator should give enough time for participants to prepare to respond to the discussion question.
All these would create general stimulating discussion.
@Joel provoking questions do work alot. Thats good
The idea of Participants supporting their contributions with reference is great, as it will bring in a sense of responsibility and accountability among the participants. In addition plagarism is unethical
Joel this is very insightful. collaboration will always help us achieve much. Indeed when learners reply to their peers posts then this sets the ground for debate and therefore learning.
Ask a contributing partic to clarify their point,
Don't give a very difficult topic in which participants cannot find points to contribute,
Do not give discouraging/threatening remarks to participants during the forum. Facilitator should have a friendly tone. This helps solicit points from participants,
Ask idle participants for their their point of view about the discussion topic. This keeps participants on their toes and reminds them that facilitator is present/monitoring,
Facilitator should be open and honest and not circurstic in his remarks,
The discussion topic should be within the confines of current course,
Vary the questioning technique to re-vitalise the debate.
i concure, with the facilitator to encourage the participants to contribute rather than discourage them. In addition, trying to reach to out to the idle or silent participants during the debate, will bring in a sense of equality.
- Ensure that the discussion topic is free from ambiguity. This will lead all participants into contributing without irrelevancies.
- Alert the participants about the discussion well in advance. If possible give timelines on when the discussion forum closes. This will lead to timely participation.
- Track individuals who may take long before contributing to the forum. This will make the facilitator to know if there would be challenges hindering a debator from contributing to the forum discussion.
- Seek immediate clarications from points that may seem off track. This will assist participants remain relevant in the discussion.
- Let learners know that active participation counts in the final grade of the course. This will be a motivating factor.
Seeking immediate clarification when the debate seems to go off track, will enable the objectives of the debate, are met in good time and learning has taken place
@Josephat i truly agree with you and more so on the part of taking too long to respond on other peoples response.. been a victim of it. This might happen if its beyond ones control and the facilitator might think you are done.
@Josephat i truly agree with you and more so on the part of taking too long to respond on other peoples response.. been a victim of it. This might happen if its beyond ones control and the facilitator might think you are done.
Have a clear objective of what you want your participants to learn at the end of the discussion. This will enable the facilitator to come up with an action plan on how to start the debate, sustain the debate and end the debate. Having clear objectives will also enable one to be able to plan on how well the participants who are physically challenged will be involved in equal measure.
Start the debate with a welcome message. This will enable the participants to feel free to contribute and participate, with confidence throughout the discussion.
When asking or probing for further information from a point given or raised, use open questions which will provoke critical thinking from the participants. Avoid asking questions that will require yes or no answers.
Provoke the silent participants by asking them what their thoughts are based on a point raised by another member, e.g @Alice, @Peter and @ken, in reference to Antony’s point, what do you think would be the consequences? With this Alice, Peter and Ken will have to contribute to the discussion
Certainly Grace! Having clear objectives enables one to plan their work on time.
Clear objectives are essential@Grace. This ensure that the participants keep them in mind
Forum debates can be stimulated through
-posting a question to start up the debate with
-Ask direct questions to start with
-use warm and friendly language
-Introduce team work
-Encourage participants to evaluate their own and peer contribution
-Create short term goals and constructive feedback
@ Emily i agree with your points. Good summary
Hello there, I concur with most submissions here. However, I would like to emphasize the following: that the initial question asked should be easy and suggestive enough for all participants to contribute to; asking probing questions is necessary in order to keep discussions going; but, @Patrick Etyang, I think responding to every post or inquiry from participants might minimize possibilities for them to respond to each other and build conversation. I suggest that one should respond to posts and questions where participants appear to be facing difficulties. Otherwise, the on line facilitator's main task is to encourage, probe, reward by recognizing exceptional points and generally be present for consultation.
Encourage learners to respond to each other, tether than through you. Learners who post minimally, pick their postings as example for encouragement. Monitor discussion on a constant basis and politely nudgeit back on track. Discourage non-substative post like "I agree" or "Nice post". You should rein in on dominant participants.
By posting mind provoking queries in a given topic. This has a potential of inciting the group members to react to the problem posed.
Allow participants to introduce themselves.
Give clear expectations
Use inclusive language for all to feel part of the debate
Give participants respect and consideration
Encourage them to respect each others' opinion and in case of any negativity, be a moderator.
Give them enough time and space.
Janet well said... a good summary for the right environment.
I have been able to follow the discussion and I have three tips to add;
- Set early deadline for posting
- Include online discussion participation in the course grade
- make participation requirement explicit. That is good guidance is done
Encourage early attempts and thank the participants for their contributions
Having gone through your contributions other ways coming out include creating time fro the debates, preparations and open type of questions posed
Colleagues I want to share three areas I feel they contribute towards a stimulus online discussion
1. Create an inclusive environment
This point addresses what participants bring to the group? (“Characteristics that may give you a unique perspective”) Self-awareness; awareness of others:
What do I bring to the group? What surprises or challenges me?
What behaviors am I most familiar or comfortable with?
What behaviors challenge me? Plus Dos and Don’ts in an inclusive environment.
2. Keep discussions constructive and positive
Make the discussion functional by clarifying the goals of each session to the group by establishing ground rules ie
– Share personal experiences rather than make general statements about groups of people (stereotyping).
3. Encouraging participants
Asking follow-up questions, and paraphrasing the comments for everyone to ponder. A combination of initiating and probing questions can be an effective approach to bring out participants’ ideas further.
Asking the contributor for further clarification and/or elaboration.
Re-visiting past contributions and incorporating them into subsequent discussions.
Encouraging others to add their reactions or ideas to build on someone’s comment.
Not being afraid to admit your own ignorance or confusion if you don’t know something – invite others to provide resources, and use the opportunity to discuss with the group how one might go about researching the issue.
Discomfort and silence might be there , but balance with a clearly stated context and purpose. You can agree with me that maintaining discussions often means dealing as smoothly as possible with the problems that arise.
Patrick I can't agree with you more! You are on point! A discussion where everyone feels he/she belongs will be certainly yield fruits. Clarifying goals in every session ensures that your students do not veer off and discuss irrelevant issues.