Organizing Discussions with Students

Students often approach faculty members during office hours with questions and learning challenges that are only superficially related to academic content. These issues are frequently linked to personal developmental stages or inadequate learning strategies. Through constructive dialogue, the situation can be clarified on an individual basis, potential solutions can be developed, and, if necessary, students can be referred to additional counseling services. For the instructor, conversation strategies help to offer a solution-oriented academic approach, encourage reflective learning among students, and provide relief for both parties. In this workshop, participants will learn how to stimulate individual learning processes, which conversation techniques can be used for this purpose, and how to provide students with supportive guidance.

Objectives:

Participants

• develop their own conversational and counseling approach,
• gain insight into basic conversation techniques and apply them,
• will be able to structure conversations with students as learning opportunities.