Running Head: SOCRATIC METHOD
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Socratic Method
This traditional method is named after Greek philosopher Socrates, who taught students
by asking question after question, seeking to expose contradictions in the students’ thoughts and
ideas to then guide them to arrive at a solid, tenable conclusion. This method still relevance as a
tool to guide student develop theoretical foundation in order to make a good research. For
instance, the technique on developing research questions; which found to be the most critical part
in dealing with any kind of research either qualitative and quantitative research, can be practiced
through Socratic method by the guide of research advisor.
The principle underlying the Socratic Method is that students learn through the use of
critical thinking, reasoning, and logic, finding holes in their own theories and then patching them
up. This often rapid-fire exchange takes place in front of the entire class, so students get practice
thinking and making arguments on their feet and also speaking in front of large groups (Fabio,
2013). The originality of Socratic Method has been widely acknowledge for Law students since
it deal with questions after questions to dig out the answer for criminal case. Although some law
students find the process intimidating or humiliating, the Socratic Method can actually produce a
lively, engaging, and intellectual classroom atmosphere.
The implementation of Socratic Method has expanded to the school context by the
website names Socrative. This popular approach is web-based and fully generate by the database
system. The main objective of the Socrative method is to engage students with teaching and
learning procedures through web learning. Basically, Socrative is a smart student response
system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational
exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets. There are two methods to applying
Socratic method through Socrative website (Socrative.com, 2013):
SOCRATIC METHOD
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1. Engaging : Teachers login through their device and select an activity which controls the flow
of questions and games. Students simply login with their device and interact real
time with the content.
2.Assessment: Student responses are visually represented for multiple choice, true/false and
Short Answer questions. For pre-planned activities a teacher can view reports
online as a Google spreadsheet or as an emailed Excel file.
Application
"First-year law students should take comfort in the fact that everyone will get his or her turn on
the hot seat professors often simply choose a student at random instead of waiting for raised
hands. And although the first time is difficult for everyone, after a while, you may actually find
the process exhilarating as you single-handedly bring your class to the single nugget of
information the professor was driving at. You’re unlikely to forget the first time you successfully
played the Socratic game; most lawyers can probably still tell you about their shining Socratic
Method moment. So what can you do when your law school professor fires that first Socratic
question at you? Take a deep breath, remain calm, stay focused on the question, and say only
what you need to get your point across" (Fabio, 2013).
References
Fabio, M. (2013, April 4). What is the socratic method [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://lawschool.about.com/od/lawschoolculture/a/socraticmethod.htm
Socrative.com
(2013,
April
http://www.socrative.com/
4).
Socrative
[Web
log
post].
Retrieved
from