SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

Maria Elizabeth M. Grageda, PTRP, MHPEd

Asst. Professor, National Teacher Training Center

for the Health Professions

DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES

SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

ACTUAL LEARNING OUTCOMES

Feedback &

Assessment

DESIRED LEARNING

OUTCOMES

SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

Ability to solve problem

Think critically

Show mastery of subject

matter

gives opportunities for learners to:

make own judgments and interpretations

present & defend own views

take on role of facilitator

SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

DESIRED LEARNING

OUTCOMES

SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

Manage their own

learning

Provision of increased learner

control

Opportunity to reflect on

what they still need to learn

Metacognition

Utilization &

transference

Self-monitoring &

development of

personal

standards

DESIRED LEARNING

OUTCOMES

SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

Moral development

Show expected attitude

and behaviors

Exposure to beliefs and values of

others

Reflect on their own beliefs & values

DESIRED LEARNING

OUTCOMES

SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSION

Communicate effectively

Can work well with

others

Encourage divergent thinking

Sharing of ideas and reaching consensus

Involves articulating ideas which can

also serve as preparation for writing

Misconceptions about SGD

Cannot be planned. Relies on

spontaneous and unpredicted

interactions.

Little time & effort required to

prepare.

*Careful planning & close supervision is the key.

Teachers role in SGD

structuring the learning activity and the

learning environment for maximum

interaction

facilitate and stimulate

preparing the learners to ensure they are

ready to engage in SGD

Preparing students for SGD

Ensure prior learning

Provide common reading materials

Help students to work actively towards

understanding of what they read by:

Defining unfamiliar words

Summarizing main points of author

Listing down questions

Preparing students for SGD

Provide key questions or prompts

Examples:

I wonder why

What caused

This is similar to

This seems important because

What do they mean by

What I find confusing is

I can relate to this because

The interesting point here is

I did not expect

This would be easier to understand if

Preparing students for SGD

Preparing students for reflective thinking

thinking about the processes & outcomes of

the discussion

Help learners understand how their

preconceived ideas about the topic & the

purpose of the discussion, and the

understanding of how they think influence the

way they will contribute to the discussion

Whole-class discussions

Contributes to their own prior knowledge

Provides opportunities to integrate their own

ideas with others ideas

Can stimulate more questions and more ideas

Preparing students for SGD

Prepare the discussion environment

Ensure an open environment

Be aware of group development

Physical set-up

The Discussion Plan

Establish clear learning outcomes

Outline the subject or topic to be

discussed and why it should be discussed

Decide how to open the discussion

Promote interest and engage the learners

Set the scene

Formulate a clear question to focus the

discussion

Provide supplementary questions

Target HOTS by asking open-ended questions that

encourage learners to generate their own answers

and opinions

Plan how to close the discussion (involving the

whole class)

The Discussion Plan

Plan your summary

Reflection and evaluation

Set the appropriate time

The Discussion Plan

Discussion skills Reflecting on their own behaviour during and after

the discussion.

Points of reflection:

While listening to

others:

Do I agree? Why?

Do I think that this

is based on fact or

opinion? Why?

Do I really need to

make a comment

at this point?

Why?

After making a

contribution:

Did the others

understand my

point?

Did my contribution

make a real

difference to the

discussion? Why?

After the

discussion:

How could I have

made a more

productive

contribution to

this discussion?

Factors to help make SGD successful

Clear focus on learning

Preparation of and by the learners

Clear set of guidelines for learners

Careful management of the learning

environment

Direction by the teacher

Willing participation of all learners

Monitoring & feedback by the teacher

Careful time management by teacher &

learners

Structured process for bringing learning to a

logical conclusion

Anticipating all possible direction that the

discussion may take

Factors to help make SGD successful

Factors that limit effectiveness of SGD

Students ability to learn in this kind of

environment

Acceptance of membership into the group

Lack of prior knowledge & preparation

Variety of pace of learning among group

members

Discussion of irrelevant issues

Restrictive structure

Increased time for preparation

Physical arrangement

Dominated by talkative students

Factors that limit effectiveness of SGD

Computer-based discussions

E-mail

Chat rooms

Websites and discussion sites

Will follow the same guidelines in planning

and structuring SGDs in the classroom

Summary

SGD is a teaching-learning activity that can

easily be aligned to learning outcomes

Careful planning & supervision is key to

successful SGDs

The teachers role is to provide structure to

the activity & the environment

References

Cuyegkeng, MA, Detoya,G. , Lorenzo, M., Lapitan Jr., Laurito, A., Teehankee, B., Vea,R., & Vicencio, E. (2013). CHED Implementation Handbook for OBE and ISA CHED TFOTQA (Task Force to Assist the Management of the Transition to Outcomes-Based and Typology-Based Quality Assurance).

Kember, D. Best Practice in Outcomes-based Teaching and Learning at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Center for learning Enhancement & Research, Hong Kong.

Killen, R. (2007). Teaching Strategies for OBE 2nd Ed. Juta & Co., Capetown, South Africa.