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Interactive Discussion

Many courses, particularly in the humanities, will involve some element of discussion. TAs may be responsible for mediating or leading discussions in the classroom, recitation, or study sessions. Discussions are forums for students to practice their critical thinking skills, so effective discussion involves prompting students to participate actively in the learning process. Some strategies for fostering discussion include:

• Asking students to recall key concepts they have learned in their own words. This is especially helpful when discussing new concepts or when teaching introductory courses.
• Asking questions designed to invite recall, interpretation, and/or connections between concepts, with an endpoint in mind. TAs should identify concepts or knowledge that they want students to take away from discussion and should steer discussion toward those takeaways.
• Drawing connections between ideas offered by two or more students. This is a great way to encourage students to discuss the topic with each other.
• Asking students to consider alternate viewpoints, or to think through the positives and negatives of a particular interpretation or perspective.
• Putting students in small groups or pairs to encourage discussion before returning to the larger group to share.
• Asking students to submit their questions in advance.

TAs should prepare some contingency plans in case a particular discussion does not gain traction or students come to understand their takeaways faster than anticipated.

Incorporating Audio-Visual Material

Images, moving or still, as well as music, can be effective tools for illustrating complex ideas and can capture students’ attention during long lectures or discussion. Visual or auditory learners especially benefit from teaching that incorporates audio-visual material. When incorporating audio-visual material, TAs must ensure that students understand and can articulate the material’s relevance.

TAs may use the Digital Media and Collaboration Lab, located on the main (A) level of Carpenter Library, to prepare audio-visual materials. TAs should ensure that the audio-visual materials are accessible by using subtitles and alternative text descriptions of images. Any textual materials provided should be compatible with read-aloud assistants.

TA Resources for Hybrid and Online Discussions

MOODLE: TAs can use Moodle (moodle.brynmawr.edu), the College’s learning management system (LMS), to set up discussion forums, blogs, and chats in asynchronous discussion classes. Moodle offers different solutions for fostering communications and collaboration, such as Forums, Messaging, and Groups.

• Forums allow instructors and TAs to communicate with students in a discussion-board format, including posting media so that conversations can continue online.
• The messaging function in Moodle enables individuals and groups to message each other, both in real-time and through email.
• The groups function can be used for collaborative activities and break-out group discussions.

Some instructors will also use other online discussion tools, such as Piazza and Padlet, etc. TAs should discuss how the instructor uses these resources, if applicable. For help setting up Moodle or Piazza for discussion classes, contact help@brynmawr.edu or visit the LITS Help Desk in Canaday Library.

ZOOM: Zoom is a web-conferencing tool that enables collaborative virtual meetings. It is available to the ÒÁÈËÖ±²¥ community through the institutional license which allows individual users to set up their accounts. TAs can use Zoom to hold virtual discussion classes. For more information, please contact the Help Desk: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.