THE THREATS OF ORALITY

Including more oral interaction in a course can be risky. Here is a troubleshooting guide to answer some of the common questions about classroom discussion.

What if the students have ideas that are stupid, wrong or obscene?  Should they go on the flip chart anyway?

If you were quizzing for content knowledge, you wouldn't validate wrong answers, but oral contributions often involve opinions, examples or applications and there are no "wrong" answers. Respond to marginal contributions with a neutral remark like "that's one idea," but do write them down.  You are creating validation, not a study guide. Use abbreviations or euphemisms in necessary, but validate even off-the-wall or obscene remarks. Peer pressure will limit behavior (if you allow it to) and everyone is waiting to see whether you pass the “is the professor willing to listen?” test.

What if students come up with an idea I hadn't thought of and I don't know how to respond?

That's the idea! Treat new ideas as an opportunity to model your own profession’s process of inquiry. You might even expand the discussion with a question like,  "How could we set up an experiment to test this hypothesis?"  This is your chance to demonstrate that everyone should be a life-long learner.  You need not respond to every idea; some might be limited in scope or value.  Your purpose is to validate the students’ contributions, but not to incorporate everything into the lecture or the course syllabus.

My students are apprehensive about the topic/course before they ever get here. They're just too scared to talk.

Besides going all out with the inclusion and atmosphere steps, be sure to provide as much information as possible about the positive aspects of the course and about future content or activities, especially those that are creating apprehension. Then, begin oral exercises with the least threatening versions, keeping them limited at first to areas where students feel most confident.

Too much time in being taken away from the class for discussions and groups.

As facilitator, use your authority to return the discussion to the original question or refocus the groups. You can also end discussions with a direct statement that the time allocation has been exceeded, perhaps providing an alternative venue (office hours, quad, club devoted to topic) for continued discussion.  Or, schedule the group activities at the end of the session or even outside of class.

My students just won't participate in discussions.

Select volunteers to lead the discussion or groups who have been interested and vocal.  Stress that there are no wrong answers, and be sure you aren’t asking questions that require content knowledge until students are confident about speaking to the whole group. Begin with triads or small groups, especially at the beginning of a semester or with hesitant groups or difficult topics.  Be sure to allow enough time for students to respond. If you go on to the next person too soon, students will learn to be quiet long enough to escape. Explain at the beginning that participation is an important part of the learning process, allow, "I don't knows" or passes and encourage questions if a student is unsure of the analysis or direction you have requested.

I'm afraid there will be too much conflict between students.

As long as you remain neutral, there is always an arbitrator present; you should be prepared to play that role if necessary. Usually, you can just facilitate:  ask those who disagree to explain their positions with concrete language, examples, and operational definitions, and see that the original speaker has an opportunity to respond. You can also ask for the opinions of other students, generating peer pressure for reasoned discussion, and often students will provide a more forceful closure to a conflict than you would have dared. Acknowledge topics or issues on which opinions do differ and move on to the next topic. Offer mediation or arbitration of personal concerns outside of class.

There isn't enough interest in the topic to get people to talk.

Give the group a brief break or stretch, or have students move their chairs or belongings.  Get them moving to wake them up. Stay on your feet and move around as you speak and be sure to come to class with sufficient energy yourself. Smile, maintain eye contact with the whole group (not just those special students who participate), and try to begin class meetings with group activities that maximize participation. Of course, don't beat a dead horse. Go on to another topic and try again next semester. Have a backup class plan if discussion, groups or oral responses are new for you. Even the best exercises don't work with every group of students.

One student insists on dominating the discussion.

Move toward the student, making full eye contact. When she pauses, say something like  "your thoughts are excellent Diane, now let’s hear what Susan thinks."  Name a person you are pretty sure wants to speak, or at least will jump in with something. Identify people who want to speak by monitoring body language, give them "you'll be next" signals by making eye contact, and then call on them at the first opportunity: "Jane, I know you wanted to add something a second ago."

There seem to be endless side conversations; people just aren't paying attention.

People will become distracted, sometimes even excited by a point that has been made, but are not usually intentionally rude. Your goal is to stop the talking without inhibiting the discussion. Pause and look meaningfully at the culprits.  Try humor, but be playful, not sarcastic. Acknowledge their conversation as contributions and ask them to restate for the group and explain the relevance of the tangential idea. Invade their space as you continue the discussion. Station yourself near repeat offenders.