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4.3.3 Discussion
It is widely recognized that involving students in discussion helps them develop sophisticated intellectual abilities. We can expect, then, that discussions will lead students to practice the attributes of intentional learning. Obviously, a discussion will involve students in asking and being asked questions. Discussion may also call upon students to practice organizing ideas and concepts into a logical structure, or it may reveal a student's faulty organization of material. Discussion of examples and experience can help students make a variety of connections between what they know, what they hear, what they and others say. Ideally, a good discussion includes opportunities to reflect on what is happening. Questions can help encourage reflection on the ideas generated in a discussion. Students engaged in discussion of case studies, open-ended problems, and broad issues will also find themselves adapting what they have already learned to help them address the issues raised in these kinds of discussions. While discussion is not the only way to encourage intentional learning, nor is it always the best way, it does provide a variety of opportunities for students to practice effective learning.An instructor may choose discussion as a teaching strategy to achieve a number of different purposes. For example, a good discussion could spark student interest in a topic and motivate further learning. It could encourage commitment to an idea or action. Discussion can be used to reveal and examine student assumptions and to help students see a variety of perspectives on an issue or problem. In addition, a good discussion class can help students learn to listen closely, to understand and react to different ideas, and to express and support their own positions. Listening, understanding and communicating are important skills for learning to learn and for accountants to deal with clients and management.
In order to enjoy and benefit from a good discussions, both faculty and students need to be prepared. First they need to be prepared on the topic to be discussed. This means the instructor knows what she wants to accomplish, chooses a topic suitable for class participation, and prepares several questions, stories, problems, and other techniques to generate discussion. Students must think about the topic in advance and do reading problems and research assigned for the discussion. Second, being prepared also means that both faculty and students think about and develop the skills of discussion learning. For faculty this means changing roles, giving up some control of class time and direction, risking some confusion and limited "coverage" of a topic, learning to step back and encourage students to talk to each other instead of to the teacher. For students, discussion requires learning to listen to peers as well as to the instructor, judging when to speak up and when to let others speak, adjusting to ambiguity and a variety of perspectives instead of listening to only one authoritative voice. Done well, a good discussion requires as much preparation as a brilliant lecture, but changes the teacher's role to participant instead of leader.
ENCOURAGING DISCUSSION If one or two students seem to dominate discussion and others are too shy to participate, you might limit students to two or three comments per class. This opens opportunity for the usually silent student. You might ask everyone to jot down a response to a question and then call on several students. Or you might try using a full moment of silence between asking a question and calling on students to answer. Faculty who have used this technique find that previously quiet students, given time to think, volunteer good comments. Both faculty and students will be uncomfortable with silence at first, so try this several times to give the practice a chance to work for you. For other suggestions on generating good discussions. see Frederick (1981), "The Dreaded Discussion."
In preparing for discussion, it is tempting to focus on content more than on process. This would be a mistake. The process is crucial to a successful discussion. The instructor may want to lead the class to a certain conclusion or raise a certain number of key points. Some guidance is essential, but too much will produce an artificial situation. A good discussion stays within the boundaries of relevance but pushes those limits and explores fresh territory. Faculty as well as students may expect new insights into the topic when discussion is allowed to flow freely. On the other hand, if questions are contrived or too limited, the class ends up as a question and answer session, almost an oral quiz. Students will be trying to guess what the instructor wants to hear rather than thinking about an issue or expressing their solutions to a problem. This experience can be frustrating for both faculty and students.
Preparation that focuses on process as well as content will include conscious decisions about how to encourage participation, what kinds of questions to ask, how to make best use of the setting, whether and how to grade students on discussion. One way to encourage broad participation is to engage the class in setting ground rules for discussion (for example, how many times, how often, how long an individual should speak). If the class agrees to these in advance, peer pressure will help control the overeager student who wants to turn discussion into a dialog between himself and the instructor. Shy students may be encouraged to participate by being asked to observe and report on the process, or periodically to frame the consensus they are hearing, or to write a summary or questions for the next session. Discussion questions should be open ended so that many possible answers could be right (for example, what options does the accountant for XYZ company have in handling inventory? or how would you use the information on the balance sheet to decide whether to accept this company as an audit client?).
The setting may help or hinder discussion and thus the opportunity to learn to learn. Ideally, a discussion class involves 12-20 students in a conference-type room, but most accounting classes are not that fortunate. If the chairs are not bolted to the floor, they should be arranged so that students can see each other, as well as the instructor. Even in a large lecture room, students can be encouraged to turn and look at their peers instead of always facing forward. Evaluating classroom participation can be difficult, and some professors philosophically oppose it, but students may expect it if discussion is important to the class. The evaluation should go beyond an impressionistic sense of who talks the most to include some acknowledgment of the quality of talk and the possibility of less vocal contributions. Faculty may find it helpful to make notes on student participation after each discussion class; faculty may also consider student self-evaluation and peer evaluation of contributions to discussion. Sharing responsibility for evaluating participation should emphasize student responsibility for learning through discussion.
Discussions should be planned to help students practice the attributes of intentional learning. For example, students can be given sample questions which can be applied to a number of different topics for small group or whole class discussions. A similar approach is the developmental discussion which requires students to go through four steps in discussing any topic: (1) formulate the problem, (2) suggest hypotheses, (3) gather relevant data, (4) evaluate alternative solutions. [For more on the developmental discussion, see McKeachie, 1994, p. 33-34.] The structured discussion helps students learn to address problems critically and systematically. The open discussion involves students in leading as well as participating in class. Discussions like these will be effective strategies for engaging students in the activities of intentional learning.
SOME SAMPLE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS What problems do you see in ...?
What assumptions underlie...?
What evidence supports your opinion about...?
How does this concept/situation/proposal fit what you already know about...?
What questions must be asked in order to ...?
What are the connections between...?
In a different situation or context, how might you apply...?