Effective Classroom Communication - DE Oracle

DE Oracle @ UMUC An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty Center for Support of Instruction Effective Classroom Communication Agnes Bouldin Collegiate Faculty Graduate School of Management and Technology Published: September-October 2005 Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-communication Faculty often struggle to find the best method for encouraging meaningful discussion in face to face classrooms and online. Dallimore, Hertenstein, and Platt, (2004) discuss six recommendations identified by students that encourage classroom participation: required/graded participation, incorporating ideas and experience into discussion, active facilitation, asking effective questions, supportive classroom environment, affirm contributions and provide constructive feedback. I'd like to focus on providing a supportive classroom environment and required/graded participation. It's very important to build a sense of community early in both the face to face classroom and online. Online education is still new to many of our students and they are not sure what is expected of them. Faculty need to actively facilitate meaningful class discussions. In the face to face classroom, I try to create a setting much like a business meeting. One tool that has been very beneficial to me in the traditional classroom setting is the use of name cards. At the first class meeting, I have the students pair up and get to know each other and then introduce each other to the rest of the class. This activity supplies me with the name they prefer and it gives me a fairly quick method of getting to know their background. Then by the time class meets again, I've prepared a name card for each student that is placed in front of them. It helps them to get to know each other and it's a nice way for me to take attendance without having to call out names. It also helps me to learn the student's names. In the online classroom, I ask the students to introduce themselves in the conference area by sharing a little bit about themselves and also answering the following: your purpose for taking this course why you took this course online your biggest fear about taking a course online how you would like to be addressed online Making clear your expectations regarding class discussion at the beginning of the semester is extremely important online and in the traditional classroom. For example have you made your expectations clear regarding classroom discussion (or online conference participation)? Development of evaluation tools is an excellent method for clarifying your expectations. It's also important for students to understand how often they are expected to participate in class discussion or online conferences. In the classroom, you may assign presentations, have students work in discussion groups, or have a large group discussion and limit the time for individual speakers (to discourage one student from taking all the time). For online participation, it's important for you to tell your students how often you expect to see them participating, and whether or not they should be commenting on the input of their classmates. Do you want to see them making entries 2 times a week, or 3 times a week? You need to tell them what you expect and how it will affect their final grade. In one of my courses, overall participation is worth 40% of the final grade. Participation consists of completing several open book exercises and participation in several discussion conferences. I label each conference GRADED so there won't be any confusion about whether or not a response is expected. Effective Classroom Communication - DE Oracle Contact Site Manager Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction © University of Maryland University College Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com Development of a discussion rubric is an excellent method for clarifying your expectations. Documenting your expectations for classroom discussion will provide the student with a valuable tool for your class and possibly others. To get started on developing your own rubrics, visit the presentation developed by Dr. Porto. References Dallimore, E. J., Hertenstein, J. H., and Platt, M. B. (2004). Classroom participation and discussion effectiveness: Student-generated strategies. Communication Education, 53 (1), 103-115. Porto, S. (n.d.). An introduction to the power of rubrics. About the Author(s) Dr. Gussie Bouldin (BS, Education, West Virginia University; MA, Health Care Administration, Central Michigan University; DrPH, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health) is a Collegiate Professor in the Graduate School. She has taught in UMUC's Graduate Health Care Administration program for 5 years. Prior to coming to UMUC Gussie worked in a variety of health care operation positions in the federal government. Rating: Not yet rated Comments No comments posted. You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment. If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE one. If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site Manager (mailto:degrad@umuc.edu?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be updated. Effective Classroom Communication - DE Oracl