Academic Discussions in the Classroom

What You Will Learn

Academic discussion (also known as academic discourse) is more than asking questions and eliciting answers in the classroom. It is a strategy that has the specific purpose of discussing ideas with peers and teachers to develop knowledge. Effective academic discussions follow specific guidelines, which result in students being able to discuss a topic using academic language and information with confidence. This course provides a structure to follow as you plan for academic discussion within your lessons.

Academic discussion is a collaborative analysis (also known as discourse, discussion, or even debate) of academic ideas involving teachers and student peers to develop and promote knowledge. Academic discussion is based on relevant facts and opinions supported by evidence.

This course will take you through the complete process of planning, executing, and evaluating academic discussion in your classroom. You will learn how to build academic discussion into your classroom lessons and align it with your classroom learning objectives. You will learn how to support and engage with students less likely to participate through question prompts, feedback strategies, grouping strategies, and provided support tools. You will also be provided with two dozen support and planning tools to help you put academic discussion to use immediately in your classroom.

You Will Learn:

• How to plan for an academic discussion based on your learning objectives
• Considerations for what to teach and what resources to provide to your students to support academic discussion
• How to design the right questions to enhance student discussion
• How to support students during discussion and provide reflections to maximize learning
• Exemplar academic discussion scenarios and examples

Course Guiding Question:

How can I design academic discussions within my lessons to develop content knowledge through collaboration and critical thinking?

Professional Development Credits

At the conclusion of the course, you will receive a certificate for 26 Professional Development Hours (Clock Hours, CPEs).

Model Teaching Professional Development Courses are pre-approved in many states and we provide easy approval forms to submit to your license granting authority if required.

If you are a teacher seeking license renewal and wish to verify acceptance of our Professional Development Courses, please view our PD STATE REQUIREMENTS PAGE to learn more about your state’s requirements.

Also, consider taking our UNIVERSITY-PARTNERED, ACADEMIC CREDIT COURSES to earn regionally accredited units or credits, accepted by most states for teacher re-licensing and salary advancement.

Approval Information About This Course for Teaching License Renewal & Continuing Education

Model Teaching has helped thousands of teachers across the country meet their relicensing requirements.

This course is Pre-Approved in the following states for License Renewal and Continuing education:

• Texas – CPE’s, TEA-Approved
• New York CTLE’s – NYSED-Approved
• Pennsylvania DOE – ACT 48-Approved
• Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) – Approved
• Nevada DOE
• Tennessee
• Other States As Well

If you do not see your state listed here, this course may be pre-approved in your state as well. Chat with us or leave a ticket for our recommendations.

For More Information About Your Specific State Requirements, Please View Your State Requirements

Please confirm your specific district or state requirements for license renewal prior to registering and feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have about our courses.

Topics Covered and General Course Outline

Section 1 – What is Academic Discussion?

• What is an academic discussion
• The benefits of academic discussion
• How effective academic discussion is a form of collaborative learning

Section 2 – Planning for Academic Discussion

• Why pre-planning for academic discussions is important
• How planning and designing a strong objective can help student engagement during discussion
• Components of a strong objective to help best support academic discussion

Section 3 – Setting a Purpose for your Academic Discussion

• The importance of setting a purpose for every discussion you create
• The key highlights of a strong purpose

Section 4 – The 4 Discussion Models

• The 4 Discussion Models
• When to Use Each Model
• Examples of Each Model

Section 5 – Crafting Quality Questions

• The characteristics of quality questions in an academic discussion
• The characteristics of quality answers in an academic discussion

Section 6 – Preparing Your Students for an Effective Academic Discussion

• How to make academic discussions accessible to all students with proper student preparation
• How to prepare all students to effectively engage in a discussion
• How to choose the appropriate preparation activities for an academic discussion

Section 7 – Resources to Reference

• The importance of having resources for students to reference during a discussion
• What types of resources are helpful
• How to choose the right resource for your discussions

Section 8 – Supporting and Engaging Students During Discussion

• About types of student responses
• How to guide and support student responses

Section 9 – Opportunities for Reflection

• About why student reflection is important
• Example reflection types to help guide you in planning for student reflection

Section 10 – Exemplar Discussions

• About exemplar student discussions
• The framework for your own exemplary discussion plan

Helpful Resources & Templates Included With the Course

The course comes with 26 templates, tools, and graphic organizers ready to be used in your classroom!

These Include:

• Academic Discussion Reference Guide with Sample
• Learning Objective Quick Reference Guide
• Discussion Purpose Planner with Sample
• General Discussion Models Reference Guide
• Discussion Questions Planning Template with Sample
• Revised Blooms Taxonomy Reference Guide
• Student Preparation Planning Guide with Sample
• Resource Reference Guide
• Student Response Sentence Stems Resource
• Student Responses Template with Sample
• Guiding and Supporting Students in Academic Discussions Reference Guide
• Student Discourse Tracker with Sample
• Reflections After Discussion Planner with Sample
• Exemplar Discussion Checklist
• Academic Discussion Action Plan with Sample
• Effectiveness Rubric
• Implementation Observation Checklist with Sample

Register for the course Academic Discussions in the Classroom: Turning Discourse Into Learning now.