General Discussion Resources
There is a large difference between a conversation and a discussion
– which is that a discussion has a purpose.
Click to watch this video on building teams based on good discussion skills.
The Discussion Diamond
- a divergent/convergent model by Bryan Alkema
- a divergent/convergent model by Bryan Alkema
Information is based on facts - dissent at this stage exposes problems
Ideas / opinions / predictions , which are not fact-based but should be explored to expand possibilities and challenge box thinking
Decisions should begin narrowing down the possibilities again, choosing a path and focusing the vision
- dissent here can loop back to either Information or Ideas
Tasks are the time to begin action - dissent here indicates that prior stages were not fully explored or made explicit, and often leads to conflict instead of progress
This can be seen as a much-simplified 'Debrief Diamond' model, where a discussion begins at the small end with the known facts, diverges and diversifies by adding opinions and ideas, begins narrowing back down by paring the ideas and making decisions, and converges to a final point where tasks are assigned. It also borrows from the widely accepted and multi-disciplinary 'Double Diamond Design ' thinking process. Both models are shown below for comparison purposes.
Note that for the purposes of academic discussion - distinguished from conversation, as in the quote above - it is helpful to begin with a text or other input to activate relevant schema. In all three models, there are opportunities to both broaden and narrow focus, and to facilitate both cognition and metacognition in students as they move through the process.