Facilitating Group Discussionswebposting

Facilitating Group Discussions

Melissa S. Medina, Ed.M., ABD

Clinical Assistant ProfessorDirector of Instructional Sciences & Assessment

University of Oklahoma College of PharmacyOUHSC Educational Grand Rounds

July 18, 2003

Objectives Reflect on and discuss group discussion

experiences List problem solving requirements and analyze

role in facilitating group discussions Explore group facilitating strategies through the

lens of problem-based learning Evaluate group discussions according to

problem solving requirements

Group Discussion Concerns For 1 minute…….

Reflect on experiences and challenges you faced facilitating group discussions

Write down 1 concern about facilitating group discussions

Group Discussion Concerns

Students who do not care

Dealing with silent students

Keeping students on right path

How not to lecture

Getting students to identify issues

Benefits of Group Discussion

Clarify content Enhance active learning Reveal learner thought process Reveal learner misperceptions Reveal learner beliefs Enhance learner critical thinking Promote self-directed learning

Problem Solving Well-defined

Puzzles Clear goals Find correct answer

Ill-defined Complex issues, multiple perspectives Assumptions, evidence, opinions can

lead to different solutions(Kitchener, 1983)

Problem Solving Requirements

Category

Knowledge and Behavior

1 ResourcesIndividual’s knowledge base

2 ControlMetacognition

3 Belief SystemsAbout self, environment, topic

(Schoenfield, 1983)

Types of Knowledge Declarative (factual)

Knowing what to do

Procedural Knowing how to use the facts

Conditional Knowing when and why to use the

procedures and strategies(Woolfolk, 2001)

Metacognition Planning

Time management, strategy utilization, process implications

Monitoring “How am I doing?”

Evaluation Judging process and outcomes of thinking and

learning

(Woolfolk, 2001)

Metacognition Evidence Unrelated to aptitude

(Pressley & Ghatala, 1988)

Awareness compensates for lower-level ability (Swanson, 1990)

Direct instruction and modeling improve skills (Palincsar & Brown, 1984)

Enhances reasoning in the classroom (Kramarski & Mevarech, 2003)

Epistemology Beliefs about

Nature of knowledge

Processes of knowing

(Hofer and Pintrich, 1997)

Epistemology

Dimensions

Right-wrong thinking• Knowledge handed down

Multiple possibilities for knowledge• Knowledge evaluated on personal basis

(Perry, 1970)

Epistemology Research Lower level negatively affects problem

solving (Schommer, Crouse, Rhodes, 1992)

Differs across disciplines (Jehng, Johnson, Anderson, 1993)

Influences ability to argue persuasively (Kuhn, 1991)

Decreases persistence at difficult tasks (Schoenfeld, 1983)

Problem Solving Requirements

Category

Knowledge and Behavior

1 ResourcesIndividual’s knowledge base

2 ControlMetacognition

3 Belief SystemsAbout self, environment, topic

(Schoenfield, 1983)

Group discussion Professor’s group case

(University of Delaware, 2001)

Barriers to Group DiscussionStudents Discussion learning

Shift in student and faculty roles

Goal is to read teacher’s mind

Faculty Answers offered too quickly

Premature push toward solution(McKeachie, 2002)

Addressing Your Concerns

Students who do not care

Dealing with silent students

Getting students to identify issues

Keeping students on right path

How not to lecture

Metacognitive Questions Planning

“How much time do you need?” “Where will you find your resources?”

Monitoring “How are you progressing on the review?” “Am I going too fast?”

Evaluation “Is this finished?” “Is my solution defensible?”

Epistemology Questions “How do you know that is the best

evidence or is true?”

“Are there alternative explanations that exist?”

“How would you judge the evidence you are using to support the claim?”

General Question Types Interpretative questions

How does __ apply to ____? Comparative questions

Compare one theory to another Evaluative questions

Judge value of points Critical questions

___ states ___. Under what conditions may that not be true?

(McKeachie, 2002)

Questions?

Contact Information

Email: melissa-medina@ouhsc.edu

Office: College of Pharmacy room 125

References Hofer, B.K., & Pintrich, P.R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge

and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67, 88-140. Jehng, J.J., Johnson, S.D., & Anderson, R.C. (1993). Schooling and students’ epistemological beliefs about

learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 18, 23-35. Kitchener, K.S. (1983). Cognition, metacognition, and epistemic cognition. Human Development, 26, 222-232. Kramarski, B., & Mevarech, Z.R. (2003). Enhancing mathematical reasoning in the classroom: The effects of

cooperative learning and metacognition. American Educational Research Journal, 40, 281-310. Kuhn, D. (1991). The skills of argument. (pp. 172-263). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Lowman, J. 1995. Mastering the techniques of teaching-2nd edition. (p. 159-191). San Francisco:Jossey-

Bass. McKeachie, W.J. (2002). Teaching Tips-11th edition. (p. 30-51). NY: Houghton Mifflin. Palincsar, A.S., & Brown, A.L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and monitoring

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solving. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 306-314. Woolfolk, A. (2001). Educational Psychology-8th edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.