The Repercussions of No Class Discussions

By Evan Smith on February 7, 2014

Boring! This word can describe a mutual feeling among students when they feel their teacher engages in a lackluster lecture.

As I gazed upon the dimensions of the classroom, the dull look on everyone’s faces told the whole story. After attending my fair share of classes, I found myself more intrigued with professors who would constantly spark a class discussion, as opposed to the ones who would just lecture.

A class discussion allows for students to express their opinions and thoughts that pertain to the class topic. Professors who only commit to a tedious lecture often find their students restless and worn out.

Image Courtesy of Google Images

Obviously a visual, such as a power point, video, or a gallery of photos would compliment a lecture well, opposed to the strict use of the nostalgic chalkboard.

Dr. Michael Sandel, a professor at Harvard University, has been highly praised for his method of teaching. He incorporates engaging debates which keep students alert and informed.

Sandal’s class has a remarkable number of students enrolled in his course each semester. In 2007, he set the record for students in a single class at Harvard, with 1,115. This model serves the purpose of reaching students and would be a great structure to emulate.Furthermore, he has a series on YouTube called “Justice,” where he teaches classes about philosophy.

According to Resource Area for Teaching, after 15 years of a meta-analysis of 57 studies, they found that students using activity-based programs performed up to 20% higher than groups using traditional or textbook approaches. These studies had an accumulation of 13,000 students throughout 1,000 classrooms.The greatest gains occurred in creativity, attitude, perception, and logic (Bredderman, 1982).

New invigorating ways of teaching are always encouraged, as they are appealing to most students. Textbooks can be helpful at times, but should compliment what the class is based upon, not serve as the only element.

Videos are often efficient for images and depictions of events because they sometimes best portray concepts that cannot be displayed in words. Power Points are helpful because it allows students to follow along, while jotting down sides notes and key concepts. Group work can also be useful in the sense that everyone is given a part, and contributes accordingly, thus understanding each aspect of the given assignment.

But perhaps the method that serves students the best is the classroom discussion. It is here that we are able to be subjective and allow our voices to be heard. We are able to formulate questions that prompt insightful answers and elicit rebuttals from our classmates.

Thus, it is essential that we maintain these intellectual conversations to hear further analysis and gain a better perspective of each subject. The failure to promote the cherished classroom discussion can result in  boredom, lack of interest, and failure to retain vital information, which would be a disservice to students.

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