Teaching Tactic/Gift Exchange: Dialogic Moment

Teaching and Learning literature often underscores the value of inviting students to connect what they know to previous experiences as well as sociality and what Eyler (2018) calls "beautiful questions"  as beneficial for learning (Rovai 2022, Cozolino 2013, Bandura 1977, Vygotsky 1980).  This quick demonstration will introduce "dialogic moments" as a way of connecting students to course content and each other at the beginning of a class. Developed as a part of a larger pedagogy that utilizes Reflective Structured Dialogue as an approach to creating curiosity and trust in classrooms, dialogic moments allow students to practice reflection, curiosity, and self-awareness as they build social and intellectual connections around experience and course content.  Unlike full dialogues or class discussions, these brief experiences reinforce social and academic skills as they routenize dialogic habits in less than five minutes during a class session.

Professors may ask students to reflect about a time they borrowed something and it went wrong before introducing theories of religious appropriation, or about a time they were part of a public event and they didn't know why when discussing ritual.  Thinking of answers to these questions allows students to connect new material and concepts to previous life experiences, and also creates a space of social connection in the classroom.

After opening the session with a dialogic question meant to demonstrate the approach, participants will be invited to think of one question appropriate for their context and field test it in small groups in the room.