# Responding to Students ## Responding to Students Class discussions often mirror the form of a tennis match between professor and students: Professor serves question to student, student sends answer back to professor, professor moves onto next student, and so on. Sometimes, however, it makes sense to volley continuously with one student so they might explain and expand their thinking further. Other discussions might better function as volleyball matches, where ideas are passed among students before the professor is brought back into the action. Whatever the situation calls for, one thing is clear -- how instructors respond (or refraining from responding) to students holds powerful consequences for a discussion’s flow, participation, and productivity. How can we use our own voices more purposefully when responding to students? How do we facilitate collaborative discussion where students genuinely discuss ideas among themselves? When might we insert our own expertise in a student-centered discussion versus letting that conversation proceed uninterrupted? How can we encourage students to disagree with one another while maintaining safe, supportive, and respectful classroom communities? In this series of videos, featured professors discuss how they create the conditions for and encourage student-to-student discourse. ![banner](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_28_10__1920x685/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3_responding_to_students.jpg?itok=wQF5DWSx) ## How can I use my own voice more intentionally to both challenge and encourage students' thinking? [### Asserting political opinions in discussion ](/asserting-political-opinions-discussion) ![A student speaks in class](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.3.jpg?itok=PGRxtpTa) [### Continuing the teacher-student conversation through written feedback ](/continuing-teacher-student-conversation-through-written-feedback) ![Image of Professor Mansbridge's written feedback to a student](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.4.jpg?itok=u85KubqO) [### Intervening selectively in a student-led discussion ](/intervening-selectively-student-led-discussion) ![Professor McCarthy responds to a student comment in class](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.2.jpg?itok=U7XXN-Mn) [### Pressing students for accuracy and expanded reasoning ](/pressing-students-accuracy-and-expanded-reasoning) ![Professor Rakoff teaching in class](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.1.jpg?itok=P-ydvafz) --- ## How can I motivate students to more actively respond to each other? [### Encouraging students to respond to each other ](/encouraging-students-respond-each-other) ![A student responds to another student in class](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.5.jpg?itok=vx95pAw2) [### Inviting students to take a stand and disagree ](/inviting-students-take-stand-and-disagree) ![A student speaks in class](/sites/g/files/omnuum10466/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/instructionalmoves/files/3.3.6.jpg?itok=cvJk9akD) ## What does the research say? - Even when groups of students do not initially know the correct answer, research has shown that peer discussion leads to improved conceptual understanding ([Smith et al., 2009](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/323/5910/122.full)) - When instructors’ responses to students are clear, purposeful, and meaningful, students are better able to understand the information intended to be learned and develop metacognitive strategies for future learning ([Hattie & Timperley, 2007](http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/003465430298487)) - Approaches to feedback that help facilitate self-regulation in students include clarification of good performance expectations, facilitation of development of self-assessment, encouragement of teacher and peer dialogue, and encouragement of positive motivational beliefs. In addition, helpful feedback gives instructors a chance to close the gap between current student performance and desired future performance ([Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075070600572090?src=recsys)). Further Print Resources Further Online Resources ## Further Print Resources ### [Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2005). Discussion as a way of teaching (Vol. 85). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Discussion+as+a+Way+of+Teaching%3A+Tools+and+Techniques+for+Democratic+Classrooms%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9780787978082) Brookfield and Preskill discuss response options for instructors, ranging from affirmation to using silence as a response ### [McKeachie, W., & Svinicki, M. (2013). McKeachie's teaching tips. United Kingdom: Cengage Learning.](https://www.cengage.com/c/mckeachie-s-teaching-tips-14e-mckeachie-svinicki/9781133936794/) *McKeachie’s Teaching Tips* provides guidelines for responding to students when common discussion challenges are taking place (p. 45) ### [Zakrajsek, T. D., and Nilson, L. B. (2023). Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors, 5th Ed. John Wiley & Sons.](https://www.wiley.com/en-ae/Teaching%20at%20Its%20Best:%20A%20Research%20Based%20Resource%20for%20College%20Instructors,%205th%20Edition-p-9781119860228) Chapter 14 provides an overview of the types of questions that instructors can use using Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop questions at targeted cognitive levels, and contrasts “good” questions versus poor questions (p. 137-144) ## Further Online Resources - The Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning at the University of Illinois offers a comprehensive guide of ["Questioning Strategies"](http://citl.illinois.edu/citl-101/teaching-learning/resources/teaching-strategies/questioning-strategies) that outlines methods for responding to student answers - Associate Professor Mary Reda reflects on how she began to think about silence differently in her *Chronicle of Higher Education* piece “[What's the Problem With Quiet Students? Anyone? Anyone?](http://www.chronicle.com/article/Whats-the-Problem-With-Quiet/124258)”