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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?
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
activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1, 117-175. Perry, W.G. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. (pp. 4-15).
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Pressley, M., & Ghatala, E.S. (1988). Delusions about performance on multiple-choice comprehension tests.
Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 454-464. Schoenfeld, A.H. (1983). Beyond the purely cognitive: belief systems, social cognition, and metacognitions as
driving forces in intellectual performance. Cognitive Science, 7, 329-363. Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 82, 498-504. Schommer, M., Crouse, A., & Rhodes, N. (1992). Epistemological beliefs and mathematical text
comprehension: Believing it is simple does not make it so. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 435-443. Swanson, H.L. (1990). The influence of metacognitive knowledge and aptitude on problem
solving. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 306-314. Woolfolk, A. (2001). Educational Psychology-8th edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.