Lesson 14 Panel Discussion

Objectives

• Know the origin and relevance of panel discussion as an instructional strategy

• Explain how to use panel discussion in social studies instruction

• Develop a lesson plan using panel discussion

Introduction

Teacher Madelle is about to teach the issues surrounding the modernization in the community. She felt
that there is a need to upgrade her pedagogy when she started to plan the lesson. She thought of a
strategy that will engage her students in a higher level classroom activity. Soon after, she finally decided
that her students should become experts inside the class and share their thoughts and ideas on a
particular topic.

In the class, teacher Madelle divided the pupils into four groups of six members each. She assigned a
specific topic to be presented and discussed in the class the following day. With proper guidance, the
pupils were able to deliver their ideas following on the positive and negative sides of modernization. At
the outset, the pupils were tensed because of the question-and-answer portion, but they felt at ease
because Teacher Madelle helped them all throughout the activity.

The strategy that Teacher Madelle used in her classroom is called the panel discussion. In this chapter,
you will learn what panel discussion is and how it is planned and implemented in a social studies
classroom.

Think

The panel discussion is a method that encourages the exchange of ideas that allows the panel members
and the audience to discuss a particular topic. It is often used to shed light on issues regarding politics,
community, and academic topic contents. The panel discussion can also be used inside the classroom as
a performance ask. The pupils are asked to be experts in various fields such as a teacher, guidance
councilor, politician, doctor, engineer, etc. They assume the roles of whoever they portray and explicate
topics in their own context. The teacher, on the other hand, stands as a moderator who facilitates the
flow of ideas among the learners. In the run, the moderator can ask several questions and can
summarize the points made the panelists. Social studies education in the Philippines is grounded on the
theory of constructivism. The panel discussion has the underpinnings of the constructivist classroom
climate. However, constructivist classroom is more than the teaching strategies implemented by the
teacher; it is more of creating relationships between learners, teachers, and concepts (Windschitl,
1999). Thus, when properly implemented it can be a valuable teaching strategy that can produce several
advantages in social studies education.

To further understand how a panel discussion works inside the classroom, Kamens (2014) identified the
following guidelines:

How to conduct a panel discussion?

  The teacher will act as the moderator. The learners will act as subject area experts; however,
the moderator is not a panelist. Hence, he/she will play a different role so his/her ability to
oversee the flow of discussion is important Group the learners depending on the number of
students. It should not exceed seven members.
 The moderator and members should create a list of interview questions.
 During the pre-event interviews, the moderator should take good notes and discover interesting
stories and opinions that each panelist can give.

• The moderator, after the simple interview, will then develop a final list of questions for the actual
panel discussion.

Note: The idea is to ask questions to bring out interesting stories with spontaneity.

Room Set-up and Logistics

• To have a lively discussion, slides should not be used to replace discussions. .

 Don't put your panelists behind a table. It creates a formal notion and adds distance that
prevents good interaction between the panelists and the audience. The best set-up is for the
panel discussion to be in a slight semi-circle om comfortable chair with the moderator sitting in
the middle. Place the exact number of seats for the expected panelists. This gets people to sit
close to the front so that the interactions can be bet
• Have a good microphone system ready.

The Moderator Takes Control

 It is the moderator's job to prevent anyone from disrupting the discussion. The moderator must
actively focus to keep things moving and to prevent any
panelist or audience member for any disruptions.
 The moderator should introduce the panelists and the topics to be discussed.
 The moderator asks questions, calling on one or two panelists for each question. In this way, the
discussion will be kept moving. Don't allow all the panelists to answer a question
simultaneously. Know when to move on to the next topic.
 To ensure spontaneity, a moderator should be prepared with different sets of
questions. Be a moderator who knows how to easily communicate questions.
 Make the discussion interactive by polling the audience with a few questions.
Who is out there? What do they do? Find out their areas of interest and list
some, and ask people to raise hands in response
 Give the audience members a chance to participate.