What Question? Enabling Dialogue Between Students and their Teachers

Abstract

Conversations between academics and students play a central part in teaching and learning at university level and effective dialogues are key to academic success. An essential feature of these dialogues is the question which triggers the interaction. However, we note that students are often reluctant to ask questions and that teachers and students sometimes talk at cross-purposes. The aim of this project was to explore, through semi-structured interviews, what happens in dialogues between teachers and students in learning contexts. Our initial results give insights into the barriers to effective dialogue, the conditions that promote dialogues as well as the strategies that can be employed by teachers and students to encourage good dialogues.