What is a Group Discussion?

Question

I've had discussions in my courses for years, and as I'm preparing copied courses for publication in the coming semester, I've noticed the option to click "This is a Group Discussion." What does that mean? I thought all discussions were "group" because you can't have a discussion with yourself. I'm thinking "Group Discussion" must mean that the students are divided into smaller subgroups, not the entire enrollment of the class section. Is that correct? Thanks!

Chris · Accepted Answer

Hi @jbielecki,

Yes, that's exactly correct.  A group discussion would be a situation where you'd provide a discussion prompt, and instead of all students answering and discussing in one bit discussion area, the students would get subdivided into smaller groups, each with their own discussion space (but answering the same prompt).  Students grom group A would not know what students in group B said, now would group B see what group C was doing, etc...

If you want to go this route, I'd suggest setting up your groups first, then setting up the discussion after that.  The workflow and options just seem to work better for me that way, but others may disagree.

Hope this info helps!

-Chris