Opening Up to Discussion by Paige

Opening Up to Discussion by Paige - January 2015 Scholarship Essay

Lectures, seminars, and PowerPoints, all dreaded methods of teaching that lead to heavy eyelids, drooping heads, elaborate doodles, and detours to social media sites. Sitting in class listening to a professor drone on and on about one complex subject or another, fighting the odds and praying that the information spat out will actually be retained and not go straight in one ear and out the other. Very few people can over come the challenges of learning this way. It is a hazardous way to teach and I suggest professors deviate from it. As a student for about 15 years now I have experienced a variety of teaching styles and my advice to any teacher or professor would be to incorporate discussion into their lessons.

Discussion is a great way to get students involved in the subject and help us retain the material. Instead of dull looks and blank expressions discussion allows students to become involved in the material and understand it. By being able to discuss the material of the class the students have to demonstrate a thorough comprehension of the content of the class. The students will benefit more from having to know that material and discussing it in their own terms and ways that they understand. This allows the material to be understood in the students’ own words and worked out in a way that sticks in their mind. Discussion is the right tactic to take when a teacher of a professor wants the information they teach to be absorbed into their students’ minds.