>While purchasing a cup of coffee this morning, I came across one of my students from >our Senior Seminar (History of Psyc) class. She wanted to talk about the class. >In this class, she tends to sit silently while others do the work of reviewing and >discussing the assigned material (along with whatever tangents we take off upon). I >took the opportunity to suggest that she get more involved in the class discussion >and described several ways to become a part of the action. Her response was that she >did not like to be involved in verbal "fights" and only liked courses where the >professor lectures the whole time. She had been expecting a lecture course reviewing >psychology for students intending to take the GRE. I tried to describe class >discussion and debate as something other than a competitive "fight" with a winner and >loser in each verbal exchange. Rather I said it could be viewed as a win-win >situation in which participants compare viewpoints with the aim of both coming away >as more informed and educated "winners." I also reminded her that the class was >described at the outset as a seminar in which active discussion was an important >course requirement. > >It quickly became clear to me that she wasn't buying any of this. She didn't want to >expand her interpersonal skills or get involved in any clash of ideas. Nor was she >persuaded by my effort to apply a positive spin on the act of voicing or comparing >opinions and experiences. To her, this was all a form of combat--in a world that >needs to replace combat with peace and harmony.
One way to achieve (apparent) peace and harmony is to silence dissenting voices. Is this what she has in mind? (I doubt it; I'm just pointing out that apparent conflict is not necessarily a reflection of a major problem, nor is apparent harmony reflective of genuine agreement.) On the other hand, I have been in situations where the love of an argument exceeded any interest in furthering understanding of the topic. There _are_ those who love to debate for the sake of debate, not only among students but among professors and postdocs. If I may be permitted to overgeneralize, this seems to be more frequent among men than women. I happen to enjoy vigorous discussion, but as soon as it turns into point-scoring, I shut up. And incidentally, I trained myself to become more vocal; even among female graduate students it was less common than among males. You could have this gender difference as a complication in your classes. As to her goals re the GRE: presumably she wants to go to graduate school, but why? The whole point of that (at least the Ph.D.) is to produce independent scholars. Someone who just wants the one right point of view should consider another post-graduation plan. In addition, what happens at the frontiers of knowledge when there isn't yet one right answer? There's bound to be disagreement at a minimum. >As I headed off to my 8 o'clock class, I thought about how this student is going to >nail me at course evaluation time and there is nothing I can do about it. She simply >wants no part of class discussion and debate, sees critical thinking as an >undesirable negative mindset, and prefers a world of peace and harmony. This sounds like an overgeneralization. Did she say she doesn't want critical thinking? Has she distinguished public criticism from critical thinking? (The latter can in fact be done quietly, at least until one is more sure of one's position.) > >My classes often feature active discussion as a requirement and there are always a >few students who refuse to participate, preferring to sit quietly and speaking only >when directly addressed by someone else. I was wondering if the TIPS readers have >similar problems and ideas for how to deal with these quiet nonparticipants. I don't have a lot of experience with discussion classes, but I think quietness needs to be distinguished from nonparticipation. (And vocality needs to be distinguished as well from having something to say.) Have you tried requiring students to complete in a brief reflection paper prior to class? This would give them something to work on and if they turned it in, would let you distinguish the quiet ones from those without a thought in their heads. Charlotte > >--Dave >___________________________________________________________________ > >David E. Campbell, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Department of Psychology Phone: 707-826-3721 >Humboldt State University FAX: 707-826-4993 >Arcata, CA 95521-8299 www.humboldt.edu/~campbell/psyc.htm > > > > >--- >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ================================================= Charlotte F. Manly, Ph.D. Psychological & Brain Sciences Assistant Professor 317 Life Sciences Bldg ph: (502) 852-8162 University of Louisville fax: (502) 852-8904 Louisville, KY 40292 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/psychology/ http://www.louisville.edu/~cfmanl01 USE 40208 ZIP CODE FOR FEDEX --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
