If there is interest I would like to start a weekly discussion group in the spring on the general theme of taking the long view on your learning - things members of the group might try to have a greater take away from both the academic side and the intellectual part of the recreational side of undergraduate life. It would also be a place for group members to drive the discussion, talk about issues they are having and have the group weigh in on how to think it through. In some sense it is meant as a face to face alternative to the blogging you have done this semester.
We know each other a bit now from our class so we shouldn't need to spend much time breaking the ice. The group would be a bit of an experiment on whether outside of a course setting coaching qua thinking "it" through (whatever it is) can be effective for participants. I've not done a discussion group with students like this before. I tried this last year, but didn't get any takers. Truthfully, this probably would be more useful for juniors (or sophomores) than for seniors. The seniors are too close to getting out of here to benefit from this sort of thing. Of course, if you are a senior and you're interested, I certainly wouldn't stop you.
In my ideal we'd block off an hour once a week. Size-wise I'd hope for 4 or 5 students. That's about the max where if everyone shows each can participate vigorously in the conversation. Less would be okay but make the group more vulnerable to no shows. If more are interested I'd want to accommodate that, but it would move the group closer to a classroom setting and then the participation issue would creep in.
If you are interested you can indicate that via a comment to this post. That might encourage others to do likewise. Alternatively, if you'd rather be the follower than the leader, you can send me an email to indicate your interest.
Thanks for your attention.
Sounds interesting, I would like to take part in it.
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