Student Generated Discussion Questions Assignment

Developed by Dr. Jenny Caneen Raja

This assignment gives students agency to create and answer their own questions for any required literary reading (and it can be tweaked for non-fiction). I’ve used this approach (i.e., Flipped Classroom) to in-class discussions of texts for 5 years now, and students have reported a lot of satisfaction with this assignment. They are still required to read assignments thoroughly, but by focusing on issues of interest to them, I have seen a greater engagement with assigned readings and a bigger variety of topics discussed as a result.

One in-class practice session usually gets students up to speed regarding the difference between objective and subjective questions, as well as what types of questions qualify as interesting (as opposed to too-obvious). This works both as an individual homework assignment or as a team-based in-class activity. If used for homework, you can have students quiz one another (or their teams) with their completed work before commencing with class-wide discussions. Student teams can quiz the rest of the class for no or low-stakes assessment. You can also have students submit the assignments online ahead of time, letting you choose the best ones with which to begin class.