If you have ever been apprehensive about initiating classroom discussion, fearing silences, the domination of a couple of speakers, superficial contributions, or off-topic remarks, this book provides strategies for creating a positive learning experience.Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson demonstrate how to create the conditions to facilitate deep and meaningful learning as well as to assess the effectiveness of discussions. They identify, analyze, and solve common problems in both classroom and online discussions and in both small and large classes. They take a direct, practice-oriented approach that--in acknowledging common challenges--provides principles, guidance on design, examples of activities and techniques, and eight detailed case studies. These cases demonstrate successful approaches that faculty across disciplines and from a variety of institutions have adopted in their face-to-face, blended, or online courses at the undergraduate or graduate level. The case authors begin by describing the original pedagogical challenge they faced and explain how they addressed it and assessed the results of their innovation. They also offer practical recommendations to readers who may want to try their strategies. Intended for faculty, this book will be equally valuable for educational developers who can use this resource in their programs and private consultations. At the graduate level, this book can serve as a text or workshop resource in college teaching courses and teaching assistant development programs. The final chapter provides a set of resources and activities - including discussion questions on the case studies, writing prompts, and jigsaw formats - that are equally appropriate for individual study or for use in workshop environments. You'll never again have to suffer such a profound silence that, as described by a contributor to the book, she could hear the crickets chirping outside.

Linda B. Nilson now retired, directed three faculty development centers at major research universities during her 28-year career. She also authored several books: Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors (2016), now in its fourth edition, The Graphic Syllabus and the Outcomes Map: Communicating Your Course (2007), Creating Self-Regulated Learners: Strategies to Strengthen Students Self-Awareness and Learning Skills (2013), Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time (2015), and, with Ludwika A. Goodson, Online Teaching at Its Best (2017). She has given over 450 keynotes, webinars, and workshops at conferences, colleges, and universities nationally and internationally. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she was a sociology professor at UCLA.