In fifth grade my wife uses group discussion in math. She introduces a new
concept, then breaks the class into small groups and designates one member
of each group to explain the concept to the rest. Members of the group can
talk back, criticize, etc. After a few minutes she asks for group reports
to see what is clear and what is not clear.
I do not see any reason why this type of thing would not work in physics,
except it takes too much time. Rather, it is my intent that students will
do this outside of class time. My wife cannot expect very much out-of-class
collaboration because too many students have no contact with each other
after school is over. The same type of thing can be a problem at the
college level because we have commuters, and also some students have such
overstuffed schedules that they find it difficult to form study groups.
However, it is still my intent that these dialogues should take place daily
outside of class as the students work on homework problems or lab reports.
Students can also have these dialogues in recitation sections or scheduled
"help sessions."
If I had to include group discussions in the 50-minute lecture period, I
would certainly cover much less material than I presently cover. This
brings us to the age-old question of whether it is better to cover more
material at some level, or less material at a deeper level. I presume we do
not necessarily want to start that argument in this thread, but I think that
is where we end up when we think about the possibility of having discussions
in class.
However, why are some so eager to dispense with standard lecture? I have
taken somewhat of a beating at my college (as have other science and math
faculty) because we do so much lecturing and so little discussing during the
50-minute class period. I think we are greatly misunderstood. Discussion
in class might be a good "delivery system" for philosophy, humanities, etc.;
however, in science, where the student is trying to understand well
established concepts (like Newton's second law, or how to take a derivative)
they don't need discussion... they need a clear presentation, then they need
to try it, then get feedback and/or answers to questions. This is where
labs, lab reports, problem sets, and recitation sections enter the picture.
I maintain that far from being "out of the educational mainstream," science
teachers have led the pack for many years. We have always tried to "engage"
the students with hands-on activities... we call it "lab." We have always
tried to get students to work in teams... we call it "lab partners." We
have always tried to have students work problems in groups and discuss
solutions... we call these "recitation sections," "help sessions," and
"study groups." We've been doing this so long that people seem to have
forgotten about it. Then they look at our 50-minute lectures and say,
"Geez, you guys are out of it... all you do is lecture."
I want to shout, "Goodness... open your eyes and take a lesson from us!"
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817