An Empirical Evaluation of Student-Led Discussions

Abstract

The discussion portion of the introductory psychology course at Western Michigan University was designed to develop creative, critical analysis of articles in terms of the attitudes of science. This program utilized discussion guidelines which became less and less structured and articles with violations of the attitudes of science which became more and more subtle. Different classroom procedures were utilized in an empirical analysis of the discussion methodology. Final examination scores did not reflect advantages of the discussion procedures, which were then eliminated from the course. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the text indicated that the same level of mastery could be achieved in 1 wk. as in the 7 wk. normally spent on this material. The study greatly reduced the number of student and staff man-hours and the over-all cost of the course.