The Discussion Project is a professional learning series for university instructors.
Its aim is to strengthen university instructors' capacity to create welcoming, engaging, and academically rigorous classroom environments in which students experience productive classroom discussions.
Students can and should Learn to Discuss: learn the skills of discussion. And they should consistently Discuss to Learn: inquire collectively into key course content in order to learn it more deeply.
The Discussion Project helps university instructors achieve these aims.
Testimonials
Hear from those who've participated in the Discussion Project
Professor, Political Science, UW-Madison
"I was fortunate to take part in your training last month. I am not exaggerating when I say it has changed my life. I am teaching a 15-person and a 50-person undergraduate course this term, and I am using the skills you taught me each class session. It has made me think differently about my teaching and I am quite sure the students’ experience is all the better for it. Thank you! You all are providing a fantastic service."
PhD student and teaching assistant in curriculum and instruction, School of Education, UW-Madison
"The opening activities to promote immediate class engagement, rubrics for virtual learning, experiences engaging with different discussion techniques, rather than just reading about them – they were all extremely useful for my practice. Our discussions allowed us to collaborate with other teachers in various fields across UW to lesson plan and brainstorm great ways to structure our time and create inclusive learning environments."
Lecturer, Communication Science, UW-Madison
"I wanted to send a quick thank you for your wonderful facilitation of the Discussion Project!! It was so wonderful to be in a (virtual) room with so many colleagues that enjoy and value teaching! These spaces can feel hard to come by, so your creation and facilitation did not go unnoticed. I have a whole new toolbox of skills to dig into and I can’t wait to start teaching again."
Seven 2-Hour Online Sessions
The Discussion Project Virtual is an online training for designing and implementing equitable, inclusive, and engaging online (rather than in-person) discussion in university classrooms. The training focuses entirely on synchronous video conference discussion (online discussion via Zoom or another video conference platform. It consists of seven 2-hour online (Zoom) sessions, each preceded by 1.5 hours of preparatory work.
Learn More3-day course
The Discussion Project offers an in-person course for designing and implementing equitable, inclusive, and engaging discussion. We will provide this course in 2022. Please contact us if interested.
Learn MoreSharing our expertise
Services provided by The Discussion Project include instructional consultation, embedded professional development, and classroom discussion observations and feedback (including reporting on institutional status of discussion implementation). We will begin offering these services in summer of 2022. Please contact us if interested.
Learn MoreIterative improvement
The Discussion Project courses have been created using rigorous iterative process of improvement grounded in the research evidence of what makes discussion work in classroom and feedback from our participants.
Since 2017, The Discussion Project professional learning series has undergone design research process and program evaluation to ensure its quality and efficacy. Most recently, the curriculum, instruction, and their effects on university instructor participants have been the subject of a million-dollar Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant, administered through the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.