The Discussions are the Exams!

The Pedagogy of the Student Led Discussion

Professor William Pelz

Herkimer County Community College
 Student Led Discussions

1. What is a student led discussion (SLD)?

2. Getting students ready
3. Basic requirements of a SLD
4. The pedagogy of the discussion response
5. Rating individual discussion responses
6. Evaluating discussions
 Student Led Discussions

Q. “What is a student led discussion?”

A. Students ask questions – and then lead the

class discussions to answer them!

The student led discussions are the exams!

Each discussion post is graded as if it was
an essay exam answer.
 Preparing to lead discussions
There are two assignments in the Icebreaker Activities Module
that help students achieve excellence in the student led
discussions:

1. Students read and discuss the web article “The Role of Questions in
Thinking, Teaching and Learning”

2. A three-part assignment on How to Facilitate a Discussion:

a. Students read and discuss a web article on how to facilitate a
discussion,
b. then they locate, review, and facilitate a discussion on another
web article on the same topic,
c. finally, they participate in additional discussions on the same
issue, based on web articles located by other students.
 The “Basic Requirements” of
student led discussions
There are three requirements for a successful
student led discussions:
1. Post questions early – as soon as the module is open.
Early posts usually get the best responses from other
participants.
2. Participate frequently is all discussions – at least six (6)
different times in each discussion.
3. Respond back to every student who replies to you – in
the discussions you lead as well as in the other student
led discussions you participate in.
The “TWO CARDINAL RULES” for
creating a discussion response

1. A "Cardinal Rule" is a rule that is so important that, if

you break it, there are dire (...evil in great degree;
dreadful; dismal; horrible; terrible) consequences.
Students who do not follow these 2 rules will
probably not pass this course!

2. Before an acceptable discussion response can be

submitted, there are two “editable fields” which must
be completed: the Subject field and the Comment field.
One Cardinal Rule applies to each of these fields.
 Cardinal Rule #1
The comment must introduce new and relevant formation.

The comment field should provide new information

which is relevant to the issue being discussed.

The major criteria for discussion comments are:

1. Is the comment accurate?
2. Is the comment original? If content is copied or paraphrased,
the source must be cited.
3. Is the comment relevant to the issue under discussion?
4. Does the comment teach anything new? (Most important!)
5. Is the comment written in an academically appropriate
fashion? (With no ‘chat’ lingo, no spelling or grammar errors.)
 Cardinal Rule #2
The subject field must convey the essence, or main
point, of the comment.

The Subject for the discussion response must convey the

main point of the comment. It is not enough to use a
"keyword" or "key phrase" as the subject. A short (no more
than about 10 words) summary of the main point made in the
comment field is required.

This requirement serves two important purposes:

1. It requires the author (student as teacher) to think about and clearly
state the main point of his/her comment. To do this, the author must
have a clear understanding of the material, and this aids in learning
and memory.
2. It provides the reader (student as learner) with some advance
information which is helpful in organizing and learning the content of
the comment. The reader should be able to determine the essence of
your comment just by reading the Subject.
 Best Practice…

When creating a discussion response:

1. Create the Comment field first. Remember: an

excellent comment is accurate, original, relevant,
teaches something new, and is well written.

2. Create the Subject field last. Remember: the subject

must convey the main point of the comment.
 Rating discussion responses
1. A “0 – 4” point system is used to evaluate how well
each discussion response satisfies the Two Cardinal
Rules. These ratings can be reviewed by the student
who posted the response.
0 points – the response is not acceptable (F)
1 point – the response is minimal (D)
2 points – the response is average (C)
3 points – the response is good (B)
4 points – the response is excellent (A)

2. Both the Subject and the Comment are graded.

3. Ratings of discussion responses are not negotiable.

 Determining discussion grades
Each discussion in the Points Discussion
course is graded using
the same scale. Received Grade
31+ A
Each module includes two
or more chapter
discussions as well as a 25 – 30 B
website review /
discussion. 12 – 24 C
The Internet Research 6 – 11 D
Paper pre- and post-
discussions are also
graded using this scale. 0–5 F
 Summary & Recommendations
Successful students…

• …post early and participate often in the student led

discussions.

• … follow the Two Cardinal Rules.

• …treat the discussions as exams.

• … keep track of how many points they have earned in

each discussion