wwwlinkedin.com Teaching by the Harkness Method Edit article 5-7 minutes: The Harkness method, named after the educational philanthropist Edward S. Harkness, is my favorite method of teaching and is the primary way I engage my class of students. I don't have beautiful oval shaped tables to seat my students, but I embrace the basic principles of the method in almost every other respect. If you wish to gain some historical perspectives into this method, watch the following video: Teaching - learning according to the Harkness method is oriented around the tenets of Socratic conversation, collaboration, and shared discovery of knowledge. Student participation in the classroom discussion is, fundamental to the success of this method. In its classic format, students take the initiative to learn by ‘themselves, gain preliminary understanding, and then come around a table to discuss what they learned. The teacher, in the role of a facilitator, channelizes the discussion and also helps elevate the preliminary understanding the students bring into the classroom to higher order learning. The Harkness classroom is a flipped classroom: the students won't wait for their teacher to ignite the engine of learning. As noted above, the students come to the class prepared for taking their prior independent learning up to 'the next level’. Application of their higher-order thinking skills (analyze, evaluate, and create, according to Bloom's taxonomy) upon the topic of discussion will result in a deeper, situated, and personally meaningful learning experience. The teacher embraces the principle of ‘management by exception’: be in the control role only when the discussion does not progress as it is supposed to. Unfortunately, the trad nal classroom organization in our public universities is not perfectly amenable for the Harkness method. The infrastructure in the classroom is organized in order for the students to look unto their professor and receive the holy grail of information being churned out from his mouth. Add to this the typically large undergraduate class sizes, meaningful classroom discussion is impossible. However, these deficiencies could largely be overcome in the e-learning format. First, in the online classroom, there is no restrictiveness associated with the preset arrangement of tables or chairs. Especially in the asynchronous mode, everyone gets a chance to express themselves because they are not under the pressure to respond to something extemporaneously. In my experience, the partial anonymity provided by the technology (a.k.a. the opportunity to hide behind the screens) helps make even the most reserved and introvert kind of students express their ideas better and challenge each other intellectually The following are some tips that could make the Harkness method work better, be it in the traditional classroom or online:Indicate participation requirements but keep them semipermeable: It is a good idea to provide discussion etiquette and grading rubrics. However, this is a double edged sword and use carefully. Rules can kill the creativity and enthusiasm of intrinsically motivated learners. Also, beware of those students craving only for higher grades taking over the discussion in order to mechanically meet the rubric requirements! I generally don't ‘define’ the rules: I state them with a tolerable amount of ambiguity so that the students can be who they are but the overall discussion won't go too awry. The right question is everything: Pose interesting questions that can engage the learners in spirited discussions. Don't introduce questions that have got straightforward and incontestable answers - unless you feel there is some difficulty for the students to find answers to such questions by themselves. You could provide contexts for your questions by offering some background. I typically ask them to watch a video clip or a short article / case study. Don't judge the ideas too early or presumptively: In the famed verses of the English poet William Blake, If buds are nipped, And blossoms blown away; And if the tender plants are stripped, Of their joy in the springing day; How shall the summer arise in joy, Or the summer fruits appear? ‘Asking students to suspend judgement and still feel comfortable about it is not an easy task. When you don't give a definitive answer to a question under discussion, students may interpret that as your lack of competence on the subject matter. It requires courage and a deep sense of conviction to conclude discussions inconclusively, with a dynamic equilibrium of sparring perspectives. The role of a teacher in our times should be to help the students look beyond the facts so they could explore the vastness of ignorance lying beyond the circumference of the established facts. Students can better learn 'the facts' via Google et al. and they don't need a teacher to assist with that any more. The Harkness method gives my students the opportunity to see beyond the rusted wisdom etched on textbooks. Personally I love it because of it affords me an opportunity to learn from my students. It brings to me the insights from a network of multiple youthful brains working together to solve puzzles. Who is not intoxicated by the fresh fragrance of nascent ideas!