ZQMS-ARC-REC-002

ASSIGNMENT COVER
REGION: Mashonaland Central SEMESTER: 2
YEAR: 2020

PROGRAMME: BEDS. AGRIC INTAK E: 16

FULL NAME OF STUDEN T:Dzambwa Blessmore

PIN: P1987841D

EMAIL ADDRESS: blessdzambwa@gmail

CONTACT TELEPHONE/CELL: 0775618783 ID. NO.: 45-173248F-45

COURSE NAME: Progressive Teaching Methods

COURSE CODE: BECS202

ASSIGNMENT NO. e.g. 1 or 2: 2 STUDENT’S SIGNATURE

DUE DATE: SUBMISSION DATE:

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Provide a critical analysis of situations in which discussions are generally
considered to be of value in the teaching process at secondary school level

Instructions
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from printed materials or from another student.
Complete this cover and attach it to your assignment. Insert your scanned signature.

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 I understand what is meant by plagiarism
 The implications of plagiarism have been explained to me by the institution
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OVERALL MARK: MARK ER’S NAME:

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Discussions are one of the typical progressive pedagogies that involve a group activity involving a teacher and the
student to define the problem and seek it's solution. It is also described as a constructive process involving listening,
thinking as well as the speaking ability of the students, (www.slideshare.net).
Generally, discussions involve free-flowing conversations, giving students an opportunity to express their opinions and
views, and to hear those of their peers.

Moreover, discussion methods are described as a variety of forums to open ended, collaborative exchange of ideas
among a teacher and students or among students for the purpose of furthering student's thinking, learning, problem
solving and understanding.This is the most common type of collaborative method of teaching in class.It is also a
democratic way of handling a class where each student is given equal opportunity to interact and put forth their ideas or
views.
In situations where discussions are used,they must follow a well designed plan ranging from goal setting, comunicating
expectations, clarifying and summarizing the key points for the benefit of learners. Since discussions depend on
student's willingness to talk, it is imperative to create a classroom atmosphere in which students feel secure in offering
their opinions for public scrutiny.
Discussions puts emphasis on learning than teaching, encouraging student's participation, encouraging democratic
thinking and help to improve self expression. It nurtures the spirit of tolerance and makes learning interesting by
engaging students in dialogue. As it concentrate on student activity rather than lecturing by teacher, it is therefore an
effective method that promotes student centered learning than teaching.
Discussions can play a major and valuable role in lecture courses,serminars,quiz sections laboratories and studios
(www.washington.edu).They are applied in question based learning.Nilson(2003),suggest the creation of questions by
the teacher by working backward from syllabus objectives.To do this, the teacher think of key points that learners
should know then formulate discussion questions from it. In order to encourage active participation of all members ask
questions that have no clear wrong answers and arrange student sitting in circles. For instance, in working
mathematical problems,the teacher can throw questions to groups of learners and they master the concept of how to
calculate the problem as they work in groups.

This makes sure that students work out the mathematical problem on their own and can retain the process to the
solution. In this situation, students are presented with a challenge which requires knowledge that has not been
completely covered. Furthermore,students' opinions and experiences need to be known by the teacher and other group
members.
Students are to collectively work on the question in predetermined groups depending with the grouping criterion of the
teacher. It requires designing instructions and questions so that learning takes place in the context of answering
questions and solving problems. Students learn to tolerate contradictory views nomattter how unpleasant they may
sound, (www.reference.com).
Students debate the question through expressing diverse opinions,deeply analyze the suggested answers until they reach
a common solution for the given question. Here learners are able to freely share their ideas, speak their opinions and
challenge each other to arrive a common decision. Such discussions can motivate learners while also helping them to
retain knowledge and develop effective problem solving skills.

Mckeachie(1999),offers reasons why some students donot participate as boredom, lack of knowledge, general habits of
passivity and most compelling is fear of being embarrassed. The should offer tips of alleviating fear by helping then get
acquainted with one another as well as calling students by names. In this regard, the solution proposed by students to a
problem reflect their general understanding of the are under study. The teacher, after assessing the outcomes of
learners'findings,shoukd clarify dark points,correct some unknown areas as well as reinforce the answers. Students are
held responsible for the level of performance of the whole group.

In secondary school levels, can also be imployed as valued teaching method in laboratory experiments. In this regard,
the teacher provides background of the experiment and instructions on how the practical investigation is to be
conducted. Students are grouped to practically carry out the experiment,following the procedures with the assistance of
the teacher. Each individual in the group is afforded a chance to observe the results which will be later used to draw
conclusions. Each group is to give a feedback of the results to the whole class, narrating the steps taken, allowing other
groups to compare and criticize basing on their findings. To enhance maximum participation in groups,different roles
are assigned, where others direct the experiment, others carry out the tasks as directed whilst others are observing and
recording the results.

Students are to observe and draw conclusions from the experiment.Pupils can also individually perform an experiment
and then come together as a class to discuss the results.This enhances student understanding,add context to academic
content, broaden student perspectives, highlight oppossing viewpoints reinforce knowledge, build confidence and
support community in learning. After class discussion of results from the experiment, conclusion having been reached,
students can be allowed to restate the experiment for the teacher to assess and reflect on the discussion.

Westwood(2008),reinforces that a discussion may follow a presentation or a demonstration.In this regard, after a
presentation by an individual learner or group, a whole class discussion can ensure in order to put the presentation
findings into the public domain.This allows collaborative distillation of views emanating from the presentation into
well refined points through arriving a common decision. Learning achieved in this way is highly retained and
constructive.

Group discussions are valued in secondary school learning levels where it is necessary for students to in forming and
evaluating opinions or cases. This is clear in case based learning which requires learners to acquire an understanding,
responsibility and knowledge of contemporary issues. In this case students are presented with a real life situation or
case with many variables. Students are expected to collaborate in teams or groups in which they examine the case,
observe problems and propose solutions.In this process, pupils may hypothesize a background of the case through
gathering the observable features of the given case.
Different opinions are raised which sparks relevant criticism to refine the points.For instance, pupils can be given a
case or situation of a land that suffered deforestation. Groups of learners are expected to collectively identify the
features in the scene as evidence to support the occurrence of deforestation and then form a hypothesis in retrospect as
to how the land became devoid of trees basing on experience in the locality.
In this regard, various factors are raised, effects are also noted and solutions are worked out as a group. Such learning
pedagogies improves student retention, reasoning and problem solving skills as well as higher order of Bloom's
taxonomy.

Discussions are useful when students' opinions and experiences need to be known by the teacher. This can be used in
social studies subjects like heritage studies when there is need to understand social implications of polygamy versus
monogamy. Groups of learners made up of students from either social set ups are made to discuss the social and
economic implications of each case. Opinions and experiences from learners will lead to intriguing findings which help
in the teaching and learning of the topic as well as attainment of learning objectives.
Diversity groups with mixed interests, abilities and backgrounds are useful in such cases as the carry representatives
from different backgrounds and a wide range of experiences are found. These provide opportunities to value many
opinions from different customs to meet the learning objectives.

In conclusion, whatever learning situation that a discussion is valued, proper grouping is important for the effectiveness
of the discussions. The process of planning for the discussion should invove this this aspect as an integral component of
the learning process. Arrangement of furniture is important and the teacher is to assist learners in groups so that they
stick to predetermined objectives of the discussion.

References

Mckeachie(1999),Mckeachie's Teaching Tips:Strategies,Research and Theory for College and University Teachers
Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company.

Nilson L, (2003),Leading Effective Discussions, Second Edition, Bolton

Westwood P(2008),What Teachers Need to Know About Teaching Methods, Camberwell, VIC ACER Press.

www.reference.com

www.slideshare.net

www.washington.edu