Better Classroom Discussions Are Just A Pinwheel Away

It doesn't take extensive research to realize that facilitating productive discussions in the college classroom is not something that should be done by the seat of one's pants or on the fly. Yet, faculty member evaluations from students on RateMyProfessor.com are bursting with comments from students who indicate their instructors routinely lead unplanned classroom discussion. Similarly, the Twitter hashtag #classroomdiscussions is full of student jokes, complaints and, to a much lesser degree, kudos for their faculty members' discussion facilitation skills.