WHAT IS GROUP DISCUSSION?

Nowadays Group Discussion is being extensively used along with personal interviews for the final selection of candidates. It plays a main role in selecting the best among the best. Having scored high marks, students who get selected for a higher/another course or employment are placed on a par - on equal footing - based on their age, qualification and experience. It becomes necessary to conduct further screening for choosing a few among many. It is here, the Group Discussion plays an important part. It helps in choosing the socially suitable candidate among the academically superior achievers. It is one of the best tools to study the behavioral and attitudinal responses of the participants. Rightly speaking, Group Discussion is more a technique than a conventional test. In fact it is one of the most important and popular techniques being used in a number of personality tests. It is a technique or a method used for screening candidates as well as testing their potential. It is also designed as a situation test wherein a sample of a candidate's group worthiness and potential as a worker comes out quite explicitly

Features Of Group Discussion

1.Group Discussion, as the name itself indicates, is a group activity carried out by participating individuals. It is an exchange of ideas among the individuals of a group on a specific topic. 2 It is used as reliable, testing device - mainly as a tool to assess all the candidates in a group at one go -in order to select the best in comparative perspective. 3.Group Discussion is an informal discussion in which participants of the same educational standard discuss a topic of current interest. 4.It is also known as leaderless discussion. It means its aim is to find out the natural leadership level of the candidates. Strictly speaking, no one from the group or outside will be officially designated as leader or president or chairman or anything of the sort. Even the examiner or supervisor who launches the discussion will retire to the background. No one will participate or intervene in the deliberations of the group.

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Browse Topics Faculty Focus Articles February 15, 2011

10 Benefits of Getting Students to Participate in Classroom Discussions

By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning Add Comment Participation is one of those workhorse instructional strategieseasy to use, straightforward, expected, and often quite successful at accomplishing a number of learning goals. Its good to remind ourselves of its many different uses, especially on those days when getting students to participate feels like pulling hens teeth. 1. Participation adds interestIts hard to maintain students focus and attention when all they hear is the professor talking. It helps to hear another voice as well as an answer or another point of view. 2. Participation engages studentsA good question can pique their interest, make them wonder why, get them to think, and motivate them to make connections with the content. This benefit is magnified when teachers play a bit with the question, when they repeat it, write it on the board, and dont call on the first hand they see. 3. Participation provides the teacher feedbackWhen students answer or try to explain, teachers can see the extent of their understanding. They can correct (or help the students correct) what the students havent got right or dont see quite clearly. 4. Participation provides the students feedbackWhen teachers ask questions or otherwise seek student input over a topic, they are letting students know something about the importance of certain ideas and information. 5. Participation can be used to promote preparationIf an instructor regularly calls on students and asks questions about assigned reading or whats in their notes from the previous class session, that can get students (at least some of them) coming to class prepared. 6. Participation can be used to control whats happening in classIf a student is dozing off, texting, quietly chatting, or otherwise not attending to whats happening, that student can be called on or the student next to the offender can be asked to respond. 7. Participation can be used to balance whos contributing in class and how muchIn the vast majority of cases, it is the teacher who selects the participant. If teachers will wait patiently and not always select the same student, if they look expectantly to others and confirm verbally and nonverbally the value of hearing from different people, they can influence who speaks and how much. Participation even helps teachers control how much they talk. 8. Participation encourages dialogue among and between studentsStudents can be asked to comment on what another student has said. A question can be asked and students can be invited to discuss possible answers with each other before the public discussion. 9. Participation can be used to develop important speaking skillsIn many professional contexts, people need to be able to speak up in a group. They may need to offer information, ask questions, or argue for a different solution. People dont learn to speak

up in a group by reading about how to do itits one of those skills best developed with practice. And its one of those skills that develops better with feedback. If participation is being used to teach students this public communication skill, they will need feedback. 10. Participation gives students the opportunity to practice using the language of the disciplineMost faculty have spoken astronomy, accounting, psychology, gerontology, political science, whatever the field for years, and theyve forgotten how much of the language is new, different, and difficult for students. Participation gives students the chance to practice using a different vocabulary. I was talking with a colleague about these uses for participation, and he pointed out that we dont often use participation to ask students the questions we are trying to answer. I wonder if students might be more interested in participation if we did. From Uses for Participation. The Teaching Professor, 23.9 (2009): 4. Add Comment Tags: class discussions, class participation, classroom discussions, encouraging student participation, facilitating effective classroom discussions, interactive group discussion, student participation, student participation techniques

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A Revisit: Peronal Education Philosohpy | Urban Education [...] 4. A main aspect of my job is to create well-rounded and informed citizens. As we all know there comes many times in a professional setting that they may need to offer information, ask questions, or argue for a different solution Its one of those skills best developed with practice (http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/10-benefits-of-gettingstudents-to-partic...). [...] Login

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