Events

Schreyer Institute programs are for anyone at Penn State who has an instructional role or is preparing for a future one. Our participants are typically faculty, graduate students, and postdocs. Academic administrators, instructional designers, staff members, and undergraduates in instructional roles are also welcome.

Building Your Classroom Discussion Repertoire: Structured Discussion Activities

Facilitated by Beate Brunow, Associate Director and Associate Research Professor

Monday, 8/31/2026, 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Rider Building Room 315

Register

Structured discussion activities can create more equitable participation, surface richer ideas, and help students develop discussion as a transferable skill. In this session of our workshop series on “Building your Classroom Discussion Repertoire”, participants will experience and examine several structured formats, including activities that use sequential turn-taking, perspective taking, and collaborative questioning to move conversations beyond surface-level exchange. We will also explore how to help students reflect on their own participation and become more intentional contributors to classroom dialogue. Participants will experience several techniques, examine the pedagogical intentions behind each, and leave with strategies ready to adapt for their own courses and disciplines.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at SITE@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.