Silence in the Classroom

I have enjoyed nearly all my courses at NC State, but I have sometimes been disappointed with my fellow students. Frequently, they fail to speak up. Maybe they aren’t prepared or, for some reason, they just don’t want to talk. This occurs mostly with undergraduates but graduate students, too, can avoid participation in discussion for long periods of time.

I know it’s frustrating to the professors, some of whom go to great lengths to encourage discussion—requiring students to write short essays for each class or having a student present a five-minute précis of the day’s readings. Sometimes these work and sometimes they don’t. Some instructors also have pop quizzes to persuade the students to be prepared—although no professors of mine have used this tactic. Oh, and then there’s grading attendance and participation. That doesn’t seem to work at all.

I recently came across a guide for college instructors in the Chronicle of Higher Education that sheds some light on this problem.[1] Written by Jay Howard, a sociologist who has studied classroom interaction, “How to Hold a Better Class Discussion” explains that two “classroom norms” protect students from having to speak up.[2]

One is “civil attention.” That is, students appear to be listening, they often take notes, they nod when the professor makes an important point, and they smile at a joke. As long as they do this they can be pretty sure they won’t be called on and they can get away with not volunteering.

The second norm is “consolidation of responsibility.” Only a few students—five to eight  out of a typical class—conduct 75 to 95 percent of the conversation. This stalwart cadre makes the other students feel comfortable, and as long as the stalwarts keep up the talk, the professor can often feel the discussion has been valuable.

The instructor’s job, says Howard, is to shatter these norms starting the first day. “Many faculty members spend the first day of class checking names against the class roster and going over the syllabus in hopes of clarifying expectations and procedures. The professor’s voice is the only one heard that day.” That sets the idea in students’ minds that they only have to pay “civil attention.”

Instead, says Howard, instructors should force conversation on that day (when, of course, little or no preparation is expected). Instead of simply going through the syllabus, the professor could ask several questions about its contents (in other words, exploring what the course is all about). The class could be broken into several groups, with each group required to answer a question for the entire class.

In addition, Howard advises, ask students in the group to identify themselves to one another and exchange contact information. Using groups for discussion is useful throughout the semester. especially in large classes.

Another idea Howard offers for the first day is to “have a discussion about discussion.” Ask students if they know why you think participation is important; ask them about previous classes—was discussion part of the class; was it a good or bad experience; why? Then talk about how students should act toward one another. “When students participate in crafting the discussion ‘rules,’ they are more likely to take ownership of their own involvement in those conversations,” he observes.

This advice may not be a magic bullet, but the recommendations are based on a diagnosis of the problem that strikes me as astute.

[1] Jay Howard, “How to Hold a Better Class Discussion,” Chronicle of Higher Education (Advice Guide), May 23, 2019.

[2] He gives credit to two other sociologists for these ideas.