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LEADING CLASS DISCUSSION AT LEAST ONCE PER SEMESTER IS REQUIRED. You can earn up to thirty points for going so. However, if you are assigned to lead class discussion and do not meet the requirements for doing so you will receive negative thirty points. These negative points will remain unless you do lead a class discussion during the semester. You may not have any chances to do so, however. If you can not meet the requirements, your only alternative is to find a classmate who will do so by meeting the basic requirements.
Basic Requirements for Leading Class Discussion.
1. You must post a valid entry in the relevant Discussion Board by 8 P.M. the night before class discussion. "No excuses, no exceptions, no rescues." This is a test of your priorities and capacity for time management. A valid entry is one that meets the basic requirements for quotations and images. Failure to meet this requirement also signals the instructor in time to prepare to lead discussion in your place.
Students post their reading journals on a Blackboard Discussion Board by 8 P.M. the night before class, fulfilling all the requirements for that DB. Students willing to lead the discussion on the following day signify to that effect by putting the word "WILLING" at the end of their entry. The first student to end their post with that word (who has not led the discussion before) then becomes the leader. The leader identifies and organizes key themes and dialectics in the posted DB entries and comments in an outline or chart or whatever to show that he has read all of the entries received by midnight or so. The leader then prepares his/her plan for the discussion and uploads the outline and the discussion plan to the relevant Discussion Board by 9:30 A. M. on the day of the class discussion.
The leader then guides the class in an organized discussion of the topics and readings assigned for that day. The leader focuses on how the Discussion Board entries and readings relate to each other and to the themes of the course throughout the semester (earning up to fifteen points as well as getting the -45 or -60 removed). The discussion leader's goals are to (1) facilitate a productive and comprehensive discussion involving as many students as possible; (2) keep the discussion focused on assigned readings; (3) "Only Connect" the readings to each other and to our other themes for this semester.
When the leader calls on someone to speak, the leader may ask, (1) "what quote do you have for us to consider?" (2) Then the leader asks for the page and location on the page of the quote. (3) Then the leader asks for a summary of the context of the quote. (In both the initial Discussion Board entry and in the ensuing class discussion it is crucial to demonstrate close reading, especially getting the context of quotes correct: otherwise the quotes do not count and the speaker may make egregious errors.))
When vague abstractions are introduced, the leader is expected to ask for definitions and examples immediately. (Students who introduce vague abstractions should be prepared to supply these definitions and examples.) Why? "Without a firm hold on things, we shall waste ourselves in vague speculations" (John Henry Newman, author of The Idea of a University ).
The leader will try to include everyone in the class. After those with their hands up have all spoken once, instead of calling on them again, the leader will call upon one of those who have not raised their hands and ask that person to summarize the discussion so far. (They will lose points if they can not do so.) The leader can then call on more of those who have not participated or alternate between them and those who have already spoken once or ........
If the leader wants to retain the option of going outside for class, s/he needs to have a readable printout of the Discussion Board to take outside (and/or tested wireless computer access in the place s/he wants to hold class).
GRADES. The teacher will act as grader and, if need be, co-facilitator of the discussion process, awarding points to those who demonstrate detailed knowledge of the other students' contributions to the Discussion Board and/or make good connections backed up by citations from our assigned texts.
The
Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University,
1998
The failure of research universities seems
most serious in conferring degrees upon inarticulate students. Every university
graduate should understand that no idea is fully formed until it can be communicated,
and that the organization required for writing and speaking is part of the
thought process that enables one to understand material fully....
AN ACADEMIC BILL OF RIGHTS includes training in the skills necessary for oral and written communication at a level that will serve the student both within the university and in postgraduate professional and personal life.
recommendations: [1] Beginning with the freshman year, students must learn how to convey the results of their work effectively both orally and in writing. [2] Inquiry-based learning, collaborative experience, writing and speaking expectations need to characterize the whole of a research university education......the changes need to include greater expectations of writing and speaking.... [resulting in ] graduates who are proficient in both written and oral communication.
