Theoretical and Empirical Support of Classroom Discussion

A. Theoretical Support

Courtney Cazden (1986) wrote that “ spoken language is the medium by which much teaching take place and in which student demonstrate to teacher much of what they have learned”. Spoken language provides the means for students to talk about what they already know and to form meaning from new knowledge as it is acquired.

Marry Budd Rowe (1986) said that “to ‘grow’ a complex thought system requires a great deal of share experiences and conversation. It is in talking about what we had done and observed, and in arguing about what we make of about experience, that ideas multiply, become refined, and finally produce new questions and further exploration.

B. Empirical Support

Laurent Resnick and Leopold Klofer (1989) observed that the social setting provides occasions for modeling effective thinking strategies. Skilled thinkers (often the instructor, but sometimes more advanced fellow students) can demonstrate desirable ways of attacking problem, analyzing text, or constructing argument, but most important of all, the social setting may let students know that all the elements of critical thought -interpretation, questioning, trying possibilities, demanding rational justification- are social value.

Larry Cuban (1984) documented how the recitation pattern emerged early in the history of formal schooling and how it persisted throughout the twentieth century at almost all levels of schooling and across all academic subject.

Ned Flanders (1970) documented the teacher dominance of classroom communication. He concluded that in most classrooms, 2/3 of the talk is by the teachers. John Goodlad (1984) in his extensive study of school made essentially the same observation.

Richard and Patricia Schmucks (1989) visited and collected information on rural school in US. They studied twenty-five school districts in twenty-one states. They interviewed 212 teenagers about their school experience and observed lesson in over thirty high school classroom. In twenty-two out of the thirty classroom, they reported seeing mainly recitation lessons. The Schmucks (1994) reported teaching talking ¾ of the time and commented this was more than the 2/3 teacher talk Flanders observed three decades ago.

Mark Gall (1970), who has on several occasions reviewed and research on questioning, highlighted how frequently questions are asked in classroom and, like Cuban,  illustrated how a persistent pattern has existed large portion of school time talking ted overtime, mainly that teachers spend a large portion of school time talking and asking questions.

Barak Rosenshine was prepared to challenge the conventional wisdom when teachers provided immediate feedback about the correct and incorrect answers.

Redfield and Rousseau (1981), reported that asking higher-level and thought-provoking questions had positive effect of the student achievement and thinking.

Gall (1984) interpreted his research in the following way:

• Emphasis on fact questions is more effective for promoting young children’s achievement, which involves primarily mastery of basic skill.
• Emphasis on higher cognitive questions is more effective for students where more independent thinking is required.

Jere Brophy and Tom Good (1986) concluded that three guidelines should be considered by teacher when deciding how difficult to make their questions:

• A large proportions (perhaps as high as three-fourth) of a teacher’s questions should be at a level that will elicit correct answers from students in the class.
• The other one-fourth of the questions should be at a level of difficulty that will elicit some response from the students, ever if the response is in complete.
• No questions should be so difficult that students will not be able to response at all.

Mary Budd Rowe (1974)

Wait time is the pause between a teacher’s questions and the student’s response and between the response and the teacher’s subsequent reaction or follow up question. Mary Budd Rowe (1974) observed and concluded that the additional of wait time will increase the student’s response.