Group Topics For Discussion

[Idara Viengxay]

Areyou searching for new ways to keep your students on their toes? Sometimes it can feel overwhelming always looking for new, fun, and upbeat ways to keep your students engaged and entertained in your group discussions.

Social elements like incorporating interesting topics to discuss in a group complement online courses because they enable social learning, peer-to-peer support, and student-to-instructor support. They also enable students to hold each other accountable for learning goals while creating a sense of community and belonging.

Adding different topics for group discussion in online learning communities is another great and effective way for students to collaborate and connect with one another. A learning community is a shared place for discussion, so why not spice up your interactions by throwing in some thought-provoking and interesting topics to discuss in a group?

We find purpose and accountability in learning communities, regardless if they are from online or in-person group discussions. The style of traditionally learning in a classroom is currently being sidelined as the online classroom learning style has gained popularity in recent years. However, there are some upsides and downsides to each option, which we will cover.

Whatever the context, it is helpful to structure the discussions in a way that defines boundaries for the process and provides some degree of closure within the classroom. Be sure the topics you choose are relevant to your community and that they will promote critical thinking and analysis among your members. With some thoughtful planning, you can use group discussion to build a strong online community.

Have an idea of how you want to wrap up the discussion, especially if there are time constraints. It may be a good idea to summarize the solid points that were brought up throughout the discussion, and praise everyone for participating. This will help to keep the momentum going for the next group discussion, ensuring that your learning community continues to connect with each other.

One of the most important aspects of a successful group discussion is making sure that everyone has a chance to share their thoughts and opinions. If certain parties are dominating the discussion, actively call on others as you moderate the discussion to give them the floor. You could even go alphabetically. This is especially useful to help engage students who are more shy and would rather not say anything at all.

Let your students know how they did in the group discussion. Offering individual constructive feedback can help your students feel more included and motivated to participate even more during the next group discussion.

Discussion forums are essential to learning communities because they give students a place to keep the conversation going and generate more ideas on the topic. Discussion forums also help foster connection and engagement between your students.

Online communities can be a great way to bring your students together in one place where they can discuss course content, apply their learnings, and ask questions. This also helps you get a pulse check on what your audience wants to learn from you.

You can also create a discussion forum in the New Content Experience (Lessons). This adopts creation elements from Assignments and Quizzes, making it familiar and easier to create great course content.

You must have the Delete and Restore Forums and Topics permission enabled to restore deleted discussions. If the forum you restore contains any topics, you have the option to also restore the forum's associated topics.

To restore deleted threads and posts, you must have the See Deleted Posts permission and Display deleted posts option on the Settings page enabled. If the post you restore is a reply to another post, and the other post was also deleted, both posts are restored.

Don't forget to join us this week for our ongoing study group covering topics in calculus from new angles. Bell polynomials, the Euler-Maclaurin formula, and fractional calculus are among the topics you will see how to explore with Wolfram Language. Also see how these ideas find applications in the study of dynamical systems, minimal surfaces, and number theory. Each day's session is self-contained if your schedule causes you to miss one.

Whether you are new to Calculus or an instructor looking for cool new examples, learn how WolframAlpha developers bring computation to the study of mathematics. Ask questions in the study group sessions, answer polls to check your understanding, and receive a certificate of attendance. If you follow the registration link after the study group concludes, you will find video recordings of the sessions.

Anything that reminds me of Don Cohen (1930-2015), The Mathman (www.mathman.biz), brings me joy. That happened today during Ed Pegg's session when he talked about minimal surfaces. A Steiner tree is the first problem Don handed to me when my husband and I first met him in Champaign, IL! Of course, Don made me solve them by hand and I enjoyed it :-D. These problems will always spark the memory of the day Don and I first met.

P.S. Don Cohen sent my husband and me to meet Theo Gray and his Periodic Table table. Theo wasn't in but Ed Pegg was. He kindly and generously gave us a tour of several iterations of periodic tables. We have not forgotten!

I know!!! Really, which one do you choose? That and the vertical, glass periodic table would be great anchors in an industrial-style loft, lab on one end, and a living space at the other. More people should live with periodic tables, LOL!

Looking forward to tomorrow's featured artisanal calculus talks about minimal surfaces by @Ed Pegg and Beukers' Integral by Shenghui Yang. Be sure to sign up to get a link to the recording, if you can't attend the live session.

You can use Groups to divide students within your course in groups and to allow them to discuss different topics. You can also give each student an own group (with one group member) and a discussion topic to allow them to keep a journal or blog.

At the bottom of the page you will now see the heading Existing Workspace and below that you will find the Discussion(s) you have created. (In the example only a single discussion topic has been created: Lecture Group Discussion: The Supergreens Showdown.)

The column Discussions will show you whether you have linked a discussion topic to your group(s). Click the name of the topic to view it (the image above shows that the two groups Group 1 and Group 2, within the group category Lecture, both have a discussion topic. If you click it, you can view it).

You can also make discussion topics for groups, when creating a new topic in Discussions. When creating a new topic you can choose below Topic Type if everyone in the course gets access to this topic (Open topic) or if all students can view the topic, but within the topic they can only see threads from the group they belong to (Group or section topic). See also the article How do I create a topic in a discussion forum?

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Before I share my thoughts on what those critical project discussions are, let me reiterate my view that in most cases, project meetings should err on the side of structure. Agendas with defined time frames are helpful to everyone. Minutes can be an important record of what was accomplished.

From a team building or project-planning standpoint, there may be times when teams should be allowed to brainstorm without constraints, but more often than not, constraints actually help focus a conversation.

Reviewing progress on outstanding work is a big part of what teams need to do in meetings. This is particularly true when you have a business project with a group of subject matter experts (SME) who have no real connections outside of the project.

Just as with risks, time spent in a group, simply thinking and brainstorming about a project, can uncover problems that can often not be uncovered in a vacuum. And yet, the team meeting is often not the right time or place to solve complex problems. Assign them to someone for further research and analysis.

Once a project is planned, it is often easy to figure out what activities should be done in the next time block. Use the team meeting to talk through the details on those upcoming activities and to get commitments from the people on the team. Review deadlines, responsibilities, activity constraints, risks, problems, or concerns. Try to ensure that there are no impediments that stand between the team and success.

It can be pretty stilted (or a giant mess) if there are too many folks on the virtual meeting itself, but if you can make contact with other scouters in your area, particularly folks from the commissioner corps, you might be able to get them to help you make connections with other willing scouters who could form that discussion group.

The following guidelines can help instructors facilitate classroom discussion around difficult, emotionally charged, or controversial issues. Whatever the context, it is helpful to structure such discussions in a way that defines boundaries for the process and provides some degree of closure within the classroom. Such discussions are an especially important time to explicitly discuss expectations for respecting a range of perspectives and experiences in the room. For guidance specific to discussion of war or international conflict, click here. In addition, this page includes links to guidelines that were developed in the past for topics such as hate speech, cyberbullying, and 9/11.

If students want to have a dialogue, and you want to wait on it, schedule a discussion for a later class and suggest ways that students could prepare. For particularly charged, contemporary issues (such as war and conflict), instructors should not feel compelled to lead a discussion, especially if your own emotions or reactions make you hesitant to do so, if you have strong views that would make it difficult to relate to all students, or if you do not consider this discussion an appropriate use of class time. You can make a simple statement to the class to this effect, acknowledge the issue and validate what students are experiencing. This includes expressing concern for their wellbeing and a willingness to work with them if they need accommodations. For more information see the section on discussions of war and conflict, below.

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