By Valerie Harmon

 Definition- a meeting for an exchange of ideas in some arena; guided debate or discussion of concepts  Description- preset objectives are set by the instructor. The instructor works as a facilitator or as a participant discussing the assigned topic/concepts with the students

Social Learning Theory- If you want to change an individual’s behavior you must change their role models and social experiences. Learning is interactive and tends to occur in a social context.

1. Students can share their unique experiences on given topic in an open forum 2. Students can provide positive reinforcement to other students in a non-threatening group environment 3. Students are more likely to absorb the material being taught when information is reinforced by a group of peers

 Classroom  Online  Post conference in clinical  Learning resource centers

 Involves all students  Encourages active student engagement  Promotes critical thinking  Peer Sharing  Cooperative learning  Creates a supportive environment for mutual inquiry  Little preparation time required by teacher  Does not require additional supplies

 Students must have adequate knowledge for active discussion  Some students are over talkative, while others are shy  Students may be challenging of other students opinions  May require a lot of student preparation time  Difficult to do with a large class size  Time consuming

 Facilitator may have create a specific list of questions if students are having trouble with the topic  If the discussion groups are having trouble staying focused, behavioral objectives may need to be altered to be more specific  If the climate is one in which attitudes about learning are negative the faculty must change the climate. They can do this by responding and reinforcing student successes.

 Require a written product from student group activities and grade it. Over the course these grades are incorporated into a class participation grade  Put a tick mark next to student names each time they speak to encourage quantity of responses.  Require groups to keep a log of their discussions then have each student write a summary the topics they discussed.  Discussions can be evaluated indirectly through exam questions and written assignments that reflect class discussions and activities.

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