‘Twas Ever Thus |

[The professor’s] only difficulty … was to get [students] to talk at all. He had to devise schemes to find what they were thinking about and induce them to risk criticism from their fellows.

— The Education of Henry Adams

The quote on the right is from the 1919 autobiography by Henry Adams, a descendant of the two Presidents.

If the “difficulty” he refers to sounds familiar—if your classroom discussions could benefit from a jolt of energy and inspiration—you are not alone.

Some of the common class discussion challenges instructors face are:

asking the right questions – ones that spark ideas and elicit thoughtful replies
getting the less assertive or shy students to speak up
the sound of nothing but crickets chirping after a question is proffered

We invite you to attend Tips for Great Class Discussion, from our “Sound (Teaching) Bite” series coming up on Wednesday 9/17 at noon. This one-hour event will be led by J. Dickinson, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the CTL. (Registration is appreciated.)

Helpful Resources:

From Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

» “Ten Strategies for Effective Discussion Leading”

» “Some Different Types of Questioning”

From American Astronomical Society Education Office

» “Six Ways to Discourage Learning”

From Faculty Focus

» “Classroom Discussion: Professors Share Favorite Strategies for Engaging Students”

We welcome your suggestions for more resources on this topic.

‘Twas Ever Thus

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