Advanced Social Psychology--Natalie Smoak

I teach advanced social psychology every fall. It is a discussion-based course where we cover one broad topic (e.g., prejudice, relationships, consumer behavior, etc.) during each third of the semester. Under the umbrella of each broad topic, we have time to discuss 4-5 more fine-grained topics, usually averaging about one per week. During class, students lead the discussion of the articles and topics based upon readings I assign. As an aid to the discussion leaders, I have students submit 2-3 discussion questions 24 hours in advance of the class discussion to the discussion leaders and me. The discussion leaders then organize and group the questions and guide the conversation the group has in class the next day. I also facilitate and make sure the discussion is on topic and relevant. I like the students to own the class this way, and I also enjoy musing over what they want to talk about, and not just what I think is interesting. Submitting the discussion questions each week is worth a nominal amount of points, but overall, they add up to a substantial portion of the grade.

The course averages 16-20 students per semester, and getting an email containing discussion questions from each of them at least once a week causes some problems at times. I try to capture these emails and put them into a class email folder, but then I always wonder, “Do I print them all out, assign points, and hand them back?” This seems like a waste of paper. Occasionally, an email doesn’t come through though the student sends it (and they don’t realize it, of course), or I don’t get an email into the proper folder and it seems “lost.” Argh. J

I thought it might be interesting to try creating a course wiki this fall, with a page for each weekly topic. I would like students to submit their discussion questions to the wiki, which is not particularly innovative. But, as the questions are submitted, I will encourage students to read others’ questions, provide links to material on the web that is relevant to someone else’s post as part of their participation credit (the questions lend themselves to this type of thing sometimes), and maybe even submit their question(s) as a follow up to someone else’s. The questions are often related or they (heretofore, unintentionally) take an “as a follow up to what he asked” approach, but with the current submission method, the students never see this and they aren't learning from each other as much as they could be. I will encourage the students to partially organize the discussion into themes for the discussion leader by where on the page they submit the questions. I will also encourage students to respond to discussion questions from other students (briefly, as we want to use class time for this) or point other students to places in the readings or to additional readings. Lastly, as the wiki serves as a record of what we are talking about in the class, we can link to the previous weeks’ discussions and see how our learning process is evolving. When we get into class, I will pull the wiki up on the screen so we can refer to it and edit it as our discussion progresses.

One thing I would like feedback on in particular, though I am open to all comments and suggestions, is whether you think students will edit one another’s discussion questions. I will obviously tell them not to, but do you think that will be a problem? I know I will be able to see who is editing and when, but I don't want to police this continually. Do I need to have the students still submit the questions via email?

Natalie Smoak