Discussion method

Introduction of topic:

The school is a social situation in which one learns in the midst of a group of learners & other
individuals, such as teachers, administrator etc. education is a very real sense, depends on
everyone’s skill in “group cooperative effort”, class groups, faculty committees, administrative
boards , student –faculty government committees, co- curricular activities, etc. today this is not
to say that learning is not personal; but the fact remains that man fulfils himself in the process of
confronting others from the family onwards. Most of man’s work done today is done with others
in group situations. Similarly in nursing, the nurse work done in one group form or another. For
instance, team nursing, & even in instances where the nurse may be the sole one engaged in
nursing a patient, she is still working in a group the patient & herself.

DEFINITION

Discussion method of teaching is a group activity involving the teacher and the student to define
the problem and seek its solution.discussion method is also described as a constructive process
involving listening ,thinking ,as well as the speaking ability of the student.

Principles of discussion

 Objectives should be clearly defined and understood by all participants.

 The teacher should prepare carefully as a facilitator to guide
 Question outline should be carefully
 The members of the group should come prepared; have a basic knowledge about the topic to
be discussed.
 Leader need to guide and coordinate the proceedings so that the discussion should be kept to
the point.
 Record the main point of the discussion.
 Each one in the group should feel free to participate and a shy person should be encouraged
to contribute
 Discussion should properly ended with a report.

Understanding of three terms, which are the backbone of the discussion & frequently used in
explanation named;

 Group,
 Group dynamics
 Group discussion.

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Group: it is collection of two or more people. But it is more than this – collection of individuals
in a face to face setting working on a task that requires cooperation. Group is a collection of
people who form a group involve those who:

 Identifiable by name or type.

 Include at least two or more people.
 Think of themselves as a group.
 Have a shared purpose or goal.
 Need the help of one another to accomplish the goal.
 Interact & communicate with each other.
 Have the ability to act as a unitary fashion.

Thus, we see that to be a group, it is not enough for a collection of people simply to be together
in the same room at the same time.

Forms of group:

There are two types of groups that is the formal & the informal.

 The formal group: In the formal group interaction is focussed; all members are
supposed to attend & respond to a common source of stimulation which may be speaker,
an orchestra, a film. For example a lecture in a classroom is a good example of group. In
which the teacher discussing & student do listening; the interaction which occurs is
internal. However, it does not mean that student may not be mentally stimulated &
learning.
 The informal group: it is less stereotyped & predictable. It is characterised by:
 One is an awareness of the individuals of each other.
 Second, its fluid pattern of interaction between all members of the group is evidenced in
some form of external expression, such as speaking, alertness, support through nodding
of the head, etc.
 Third, its spontaneity.

Group dynamics:

It is a term which is widely used in the literature today. It refers to the complex forces that are
acting upon any group throughout its existence, which cause it to behave the way that it does. A
group may have a static as well as dynamic aspect also. It is changing, reacting & interacting all
the time. The direction of it depends upon forces with itself & out self. The findings & theories
of group dynamics also have been translated in to principles & methods useful in working with
groups is called applied group dynamics. Most professional nurses today will have participated
in group dynamics in the nursing of psychiatric patient.

Group discussion:
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Basically, it is a cooperative, problem solving activity which seeks a consensus regarding the
solution of a problem rather than a decision by majority vote i.e. working together in the solution
of problem of common concern rather than just talking about a topic. It is cooperative attack on
common set of problems, based on a common set of data, material & experiences, in which the
problem is, pursued to as a complex & a deep a level as possible. Relation involved in the topic
or the problem under study are analyzed, compared & evaluated & conclusion drawn.

Group discussion strategy:

Meaning & definition: In its simple meaning, the term group discussion stands for the
discussion held within a group.

It is defined as some sort of discussion; that is interchange of ideas between students & the
teacher or

Among a group of students resulting in to active learning for the realization of the predetermined
teaching-learning objectives. This group discussion occurs occasionally or incidentally, but it is
planned or organised with deliberate efforts on the part of teacher & students for achieving the
goals.

Group composition:

 Leader-1,
 Facilitator-1,
 Gate keeper/ observer-1,
 Recorder-1,
 15 to 25 members,
 Leader: competent leadership is required to good group discussion. The teacher or
student can be the leader. The leader of the group is the key person of the group. The
major function of the group is classified:
 Regulating the discussion,
 Focusing the discussion,
 Guiding the discussion,
 Classifying the discussion.
 Facilitator: it facilitates the progress of discussion.
 Recorder: The recorder makes the record of salient feature of discussion & helps the
members of discussion recapitulate or correlate with any previous discussion.
 Observer: the job of the observer is t use this record to analyze the behavior of the group
& in making suggestion.

Group members: It consists of 15-20 members.

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General principle to follow;

1. Clear defined objective: there should be a clearly defined objective which is understood
by all the participants.
2. Presence of leader: There should be leader to guide & coordinate proceeding.
3. Recording of discussion: the main points of the discussion should be recorded as it is
going on by “recorder” elected by the group.
4. Freedom to participate.
5. Encourage shy persons to participate.
6. Fairly considered all view points: all points of view should be considered fairly.
7. Discussion should be keep to the point.
8. Close properly: the discussion should be closed properly with a report, decision,
recommendation or summing up the matter of discussion.
9. Conclusion: the members of the group should come to the conclusion with a basic
knowledge of the topic.

 PREPARATION AND CONDUCT OF DISCUSSION METHOD STEPS

1. Orientation

2. Engagement

3. Debrief

 ORIENTATION

 Provide the discussion topic.  Clearly describe the question

 Explain how students have to prepare for discussion
 Explain how the discussion will be conducted
 Encouraged the students to think

ENGAGEMENT

 Develop an environment
 Present clear question to focus the discussion
 Start by asking students to define the terms
 If necessary,help the students.
 Wait for each student to answer the question
 Refocus discussion
 Keep a progressive record
 Close discussion by summarizing or evaluating

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DEBRIEF

Allow time for students to make their own notes.

Facilitate student reflection on what they learnt.

The organizational procedure:

In this method class is a group with the subject teacher. The teacher is the leader of this group on
account of his status, function, & responsibilities fulfilled by him in the organization of group
discussion. Usually the following three stages & steps are involved in the employment of group
discussion as teaching methods.discussion. Usually the following three stages & steps are
involved in the employment of group discussion as teaching methods.

 Planning & setting the proper stage for discussion.

 Ensuring active, democratic, & useful participation of the group members.
 Evaluating the outcome of the discussion in the light of the realization of objectives.

First stage; Teacher induce the need of holding group discussion & set the stage to make
necessary assignment for facilitating the employment of group discussion as a teaching
methods.

Second stage: environment; at this stage an environment for the proper implementation of
the strategy is ensured. Teacher at this stage ensure that every member of the group play
active role in the group discussion. Freedom to be given for exchange of ideas. Teacher as a
group leader control & monitors the progress of the discussion in a perfectly democratic way
with his least involvement in the discussion.

Third stage: The outcomes of the discussion are evaluated in terms of realization of set
objectives. So the record of discussion should be maintained (by secretary of discussion).
Direction & guidance should be provided by the teacher & conclusion arrived.

Values of group discussion:

1) Encourage the students to think for themselves self.

2) Students are able to develop critical habits of study.
3) To interpret problems of the past in a way that she can throw light on the present
problems & to gain insight in two ways for shaping the future.
4) It helps for creative thought.
5) It enables the student to enrich their own conception by reacting to those of others.

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Purposes of group discussion:

 It provides both experience & practice.

 Teacher can observe the student as they participate in discussion to understand the
individual differences.
 Opportunity to cooperate with others in the reflective solution of problems.
 The students acquire new knowledge & develop ability to re-examine & analyzes
their own reasons & contribution in the light of ideas presented by others.
 The student can develop ability to adjust in social situations.
 Self activities of students increased.
 Discussion also motivates the student to participate.
 Discussion provides pooling of ideas & harmonies attitude towards common
problems.
 Facts & information obtained by direct observation, experience, & practice.
 Cooperation is in its highest sense.
6) The teacher too can learn through his own participation in group discussion with her
students particularly in more advanced classes.

This provides opportunity of ‘we’ feeling.

Steps to follow to start discussion:

1. Firstly, the problem or topic considered must be definitely located, delimited & defined,
so that all members of the group know the purpose of discussion.
2. Then analysis of the problem should be done.
3. Relation of causes & effects & the particular use to which the solution of the problem
will be put are considered.
4. Various answers proposed by the group recorded & analyzed in order to obtain a
tentative solution.
5. Then tried out the tentative solution.
6. Then results are observed & verified.

Group functions: According to benne & sheaths functions are classified as:

1. Group task roles- those which help the group to do its work.

2. Group building & maintenance roles- those which contribute building relationships &
cohesiveness among the membership.

For example: some group building functions are:

a) Encouraging: being friendly, responsive, supporting, and praising others & their ideas.
b) Mediating: bringing in both sides problems, encouraging & conciliating differences in
point of views, promoting compromise & consensus regarding the solution of group
problem.

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 c) Expediting: providing opportunity to all members of group to contribute, preventing
dominance of discussion by a few members, suggesting limiting talk time.
d) Standard setting: selecting & agreeing on standards of the group to use in choosing its
subject matter, rule regulation, ethical values.
e) Listening: act as a good listener.
f) Tension relieving: giving help to others, rewarding those who find it difficult to speak in
a group, asking questions when strong feelings are being expressed.

Some task function:

 Initiating: getting the group action going & moving that is suggesting new ideas or a
changed way of looking at the group problems & goals.
 Regulating: influencing the tempo of the group work that is defining the progress of the
discussion towards the goal of group, raising question about the direction goals are
taking, probing for meaning & understanding & restating the group’s goals,
summarizing, pointing out time limits.
 Informing & clarifying: providing relevant facts or authoritative information, stating
pertinent beliefs & options about something, that the group is considering, elaborated on
a previous comments & give examples, restating contribution of members for
clarification, when necessary.
 Supporting: Creating an emotional climate which holds the group together, making it
easy to contribute to work on the task that is harmonizing, relieving tensions, & all the
other roles outlined under group maintenance functions.
 Evaluating: helping the group to evaluate its decisions, goal or procedure

Forms of group discussion:

1. Class size; discussion may be used in class course, or the entire course may be planned
around the discussion groups e.g. a course which is primarily lecture in nature may be
buzz groups, discussion sub groups, seminar discussion etc. class size must be 25
students. It provides an opportunity for students to develop confidence in speaking. For
class discussion teacher should follow:
i. Define the purpose of the discussion.
ii. Relate with the objective of the topic.
iii. Focus the discussion of the topic.
iv. Help the student to express their ideas.
v. Keep the discussion at highest level.
vi. Plan comments in advance.
vii. Set time limits to each member contribution.
viii. Avoid monopoly of the discussion.
ix. Summarize at various intervals.
x. Recorder should be present.
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 xi. Discussion technique for small groups: a small group is one in which face to face
relationships among participants such as clinical conference, individual conference,
case analysis.
xii. Discussion technique for large groups: Large group is considered one in which
more than 25 participants. For example: symposium, panel discussion.

Discussion techniques for small groups

The individual conference: the individual conference sometimes is described as a

“conversation with the purpose,” or more simply, as an interview. The specific purpose is to gain
facts & give information. As a teaching tool, the conference is primarily an opportunity to
discuss a student problem privately.

Purposes:

 Guidance.
 Learning by efforts, work, & capability of the learner.
 Teacher motivates the students.
 Teacher introduces the student to new field of knowledge.
 The students achieve meaningful & worthwhile goal under the direction of teacher.
 Each member drive towards self realization.
 Encourage the student towards self-activities.
 Student able to develop, advancing, integrating their concepts through the personal
& professional relationships with a mature & capable person.
 It offers opportunity to teacher to discover the need, problem & interests of
individual student.
 It is a learning situation for both teacher & student.
 It has a dual advantage: helping the student to help herself & helping the teacher to
understand the factor which motivate or fail to motivate the student.

FORMS

ROLE PLAY : Educational technique in which people spontaneously act out problrms of human
relations and analyse the enactment with help of other role players and observers.

PARTICIPATORY LEARING METHOD: Engages students as active participants in the full life
cycle of homework,project,and examinations

FORMAL GROUP DISCUSSION : Formal group discussion are held by small group as well as
the large group.

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 PANEL DISCUSSION : It is the discussion in which 4-8 persons who are qualified to talk about
the topic,sit and discussing a given problem

SEMINAR: A seminar is a discussion based on information presented by experts under guidance

of an eminent resource person for the benefit of group members

SYMPOSIUM : It is an technique serve as an excellent device for informing an audience

discussion. The procedure is like straight lecture form,

Skill needed for successful use of individual conference:

1. Skill in observation: it implies the use of senses, especially sight & hearing, during
conference more about the individual. the learner may verbalize his feeling &
attitude ,but more can gained by observing facial expression, the manner of speaking,
other character which may indicate the learner state of feelings.
2. Skill in the use of setting: the conference should be in the private room & in the
friendly atmosphere. The setting should that the learner feels comfortable, at ease and
free from interruptions.
3. Skill in the establishment of rapport: to develop rapport with the person, accept the
person as he is, putting emphasis on the dignity of the person over the exaltation of the
personality & the combined need for independence & dependence in every human
being.
4. Skill in meeting in resistance: resistance may be found in between teacher & student
& may arise from one or other. It may be a point of disagreement & lack of
misunderstanding. Whatever the cause, the teacher must face it & resolve it.
5. Skill in recognizing ambivalent feelings: “ambivalence is the existence of dual &
opposing force in the human personality.” In the individual conference learner may
have ambivalence feelings. Because the learner is in front of the teacher & may don’t
want to disclose his shortcomings. One is aware about the need of guidance. So the
teacher should have skill, to help the student to express the feelings.
6. Skill in the establishment of authority: a distinction should be maintained between
authority & authoritative manner. Authority comes from training in a special skill &
occupying certain position of control. In itself, properly used, it is very beneficial.
Teacher can use authoritative manner.
7. Skill in the use of questions: the prudent & timed use of questions & the value of
silence cannot be overlooked.
8. Silence as a skilled procedure: Silence does not mean “no talking.” The teacher may
listen quietly to the student’s views without passing comments & judgment.

Bibliography:

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1. Basvanthappa BT’s nursing education 1st edition( reprint 2003)published by Jaypee brothers page
no.350-355.
2. Heidgerken lorreta E’s teaching & learning in schools of nursing principles & methods 3 rd edition
published by Konark publishers pvt. Limited page no.449-470.
3. Neerja KP’s text book of nursing education 1 st edition (2007) Published by Jaypee brothers page no.
279-281.
4. www.google.com

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