Getting participation through discussion

Abstract

Student participation is a vital component of any taught course. Where the course is concerned with the learning and teaching of theories and concepts, as opposed to skills and experiences, the key activity in which students can participate is discussion. In large classes it is impossible for teachers to engage every student in discussion but they can talk to each other. This paper relates one teacher's experience over two years of trying to encourage students to discuss concepts such as systems and information using electronic bulletin boards. The paper focuses on how the exercise has evolved over time in response to reflection on experience and suggests some guidelines for making a success of this type of exercise.