Group discussions
Group discussions
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In the classroom
At work
Interview technique
In the classroom
“In terms of encouraging students
to take a more active role in their
learning, few strategies outweigh
the benefits of class discussions.”
Ma. Socorro C. Bacay
Senior Instructor
School of Management and Information Technology
College Registrar, De La Salle University, College of St. Benilde, Philippines
So…
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Groups discussions help
students take a more active role
in their learning.
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Do we want students to take a
more active role in their
learning?
YES!!!!!!
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Benefits in classroom
Students taking part in group discussions learn to:
 Express their ideas
 Listen to their classmates’ ideas
 Enrich their learning experiences
Discussions
 Allow students to express criticism without being
offensive,
 Train the students to accept criticism without being
offended.
 Help the students understand and apply what they
have learned.
 Provide valuable feedback to the teacher. e.g.
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whether the students have understood the lesson,
how they have understood it, and
if necessary, what clarifications/corrections need to be
made to rectify any miscommunications in the lesson.
Group discussions at work
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Formal -> meetings
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We will look at this separately
Informal
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Most jobs involve interacting with other
people
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Colleagues
Customers
Suppliers
Important to be able to do it well!
Even when only two people involved,
same communications skills apply
Interview technique
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Group discussions are widely
used as part of interviews
Give interviewer useful
information on aspects such as
Subject knowledge
 Communications skills
 Group dynamics
 Leadership
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Communication skills
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Express your ideas in clear and concise manner
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Build on others' points
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Work towards agreement.
Listening
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Move the discussion forward
Sum up the group discussion
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Contribute to the discussion itself
Without listening you can’t hear
Without hearing you can’t understand
Without listening you don’t know whether the other
person understood what you said!
Without listening, the points you make may not fit in
with the points made by others.
Like all skills, good communication takes practice!
Problems with group discussions
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Too little participation
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Too much participation
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Listening too much
Hesitant to put own viewpoint
Hogging the discussion
(may not be deliberate – see below)
Not allowing others to contribute
Not encouraging others to take part
These two aspects reinforce each other
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People talk to fill silence
If someone is talking others may not speak
If they don’t speak there is silence ….
Task
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Take part in a group discussion
on a topic given by tutor
Try to apply what you have
learnt about group discussions
Participate
 Encourage others to participate
 Listen!
 Question
 Understand
 Summarise
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