Application and evaluation of a combination of socratice and learning through discussion techniques

This article has its genesis in the inquirer’s interest in the need for internalizing critical thinking, creative thinking and reflective skills in adult learners. As part of a broader study the inquirer used a combination of two techniques over a period of nine months, namely: Socratic discussion/questioning and Learning Through Discussion Technique. The in­ quirer within this inquiry elected mainly qualitative methods, because they were seen as more adaptable to dealing with multiple realities and more sensitive and adaptable to the many shaping influences and value patterns that may be encountered (Lincoln & Guba, 1989). Purposive sampling was used and sample size (n =10) was determined by the willingness of potential participants to enlist in the chosen techniques. Feedback from participants was obtained: (1) verbally after each discussion session, and (2) in written format after completion of the course content. The final/ summative evaluation was obtained through a semi-structured questionnaire. This was deemed necessary, in that the participants were already studying for the end of the year examination. For the purpose of this condensed report the inquirer reflected only on the feedback obtained with the help of the questionnaire. The empirical study showed that in spite of various adaptation problems experienced, eight (8) of the ten (10) participants felt positive toward the applied techniques


Introduction
If autonomy is the goal of professional education, the key issue according to Dittman (1976) is to bring its facilitation from the unconscious, unplanned level to the level of con scious awareness.Despite a growing body of literature on the subject of critical thinking, creative thinking and reflective learning, practical suggestions for improving these skills are limited, however, it seems that it is best developed in an at mosphere of dialogue, interchange and problem solving.Therefore, educators must rethink their roles and concentrate on facilitating in students the skills and attitudes needed for self-directed critical thinking, reflection and inquiry.
Essentially, the normative nature of education implies that it should be concerned with inspiring in students the skills and attitudes necessary to know how to think, how to understand, how to appreciate, how to make use of knowledge and how to discover its inherent values, its usefulness, its clarifying and revealing powers, its insight and its truth for a meaningful human existence (Higgs, 1993).

Problem statem ent
Despite widespread interest in, and recognition of the impor tance of internalizing critical thinking, creative thinking and reflective skills in adult learners there is no clear agreement concerning how to develop these skills.

Research objectives
The inquirer set the following objectives (as part of a more comprehensive study): • Application and evaluation of selected strategies to raise self-consciousness, critical thinking, creative thinking and reflective thinking.For the purpose of this study the inquirer used a combination of two (2) techniques, namely: Socratic discussion/or question -ing and Learning Through Discussion Technique.
• Assessment of students' attitudes and feelings towards the selected guided, critical reflective and creative tech -niques.

Research setting
The inquirer selected to carry out the study in the natural context of the entity (participants), that is, a tertiary (higher) education environment for adult learners.The selected site was chosen due to practical reasons, namely being a full-time lecturer at the chosen institution: • The inquirer was able to build trusting relations with the participants even before the study.
• Entry into the setting was possible.
• Prolonged engagement was possible, resulting in sub stantial involvement at the site of the inquiry, to over come the effects of misinformation, distortion, or pre sented fronts to establish the rapport necessary to uncover constructions/assumptions.

•
The inquirer, being a staff member, understood the context's culture.

Research methodology
The inquirer within this inquiry elected mainly qualitative methods, because they were seen as more adaptable to deal ing with multiple realities and more sensitive and adaptable to the many shaping influences and value patterns that may be encountered (Lincoln & Guba, 1989).Feedback from par ticipants was obtained: (1) verbally after each discussion ses sion, and (2) in written format after completion of the course content.The final/sum m ative evaluation was obtained through a questionnaire.This was deemed necessary, in that the participants were already studying for the end of the year examination.For the purpose of this condensed report the inquirer reflected only on the feedback obtained with the help of the questionnaire.

Sampling method
Purposive sampling was used to include adult students who complied with the following criteria.The participant should: (1) have given informed consent; (2) be a post-basic student; and (3) be willing to participate in reflective exercises, Socratic Technique and Learning Through Discussion.Sample size was determined by the willingness of potential participants to enlist in the chosen techniques.Ten (10) stu dents agreed to participate in the study.

Informed consent
The inquirers explanation included orientation regarding the: (1) different types of methods that would be used, namely  Step 3 G eneral statem ent o f overall meaning o f the assigned reading for the day.
V erbal expressions o f the general statem ent help to zero in on the topic for discussion.
Step 4 Identification and discussion of m ajor them es o r subtopics.
R eading m aterial is broken down into a num ber of im portant themes o r subtopics.Em phasis is placed on w hat the a u th o r has to say on a p articu lar topic and not on the opinions o f the students.
Step Step 6 A pplication of the m aterial to the self.
Knowledge needs to be cum ulative and integrated, as it is most valuable when it has personal value o r significance.
Self-application encourage students to m ake the discussion personal and rew arding.W hen theoretical knowledge is applied in a practical way students tend to feel personal attachm ent to the m aterial being discussed.This enables them to accept the a u th o r's point o f view, o r challenge and modify it in some way.
Step 7 E valuation o f the a u th o r's viewpoint/beliefs.
Students are now allowed to express th eir personal opinions, as effective g roup process requires critical reflection and constructive criticism.To learn to m ake ap p ro p ria te judgem ents, students need to see the ed u cato r role model critical reflective thinking.
Step  5) what was to be expected from the inquirer.During the introductory explanation it was made clear that: (1) continuous and summative feedback would be requested from every participant to evaluate the methods used, and that (2) the data would be used for further publica tion.
Table 2 : Evaluation criteria for LTD

Period of application and evaluation ot the chosen techniques
A combination of Socratic and Learning Through Discussion techniques was applied and evaluated for a period of nine (9) months, during which the inquirer obtained feedback from participants after each dialogical session.The final feedback was obtained with the help of a short questionnaire.The combination of the two techniques allowed students to: (1) take responsibility for their own learning and peer learn ing; (2) develop and evaluate their thinking compared to the thinking of peers; and (3) learn a sense of intellectual disci pline and thoroughness.During the application period stu dents learned that all thoughts/beliefs/viewpoints should be pursued in at least four directions: (1) their origin; (2) their support; (3) their conflicts with other thoughts; and (4) their implications and consequences (Paul, 1990).The inquirer applied all forms of Socratic and dialogical questions and discussion -spontaneous, exploratory and issue-specific.
Guidelines for participation was developed by the inquirer and discussed with the participants during the orientation period.The minimum requirements that the participants had to meet, included: • attend group discussions regularly.
• preparing for group discussions (see guidelines, table 3).perceiving every group discussion as a cooperative learning experience.seeing to it that the material for a specific day is ad -equately and sufficiently covered participation in evaluation of the dialogical process, group process and individual contributions (see table 2).
expressing their experience such as that they are be -ing helped, encouraged, supported, understood, in -hibited, frightened, or intimidated by others, discovering how they are perceived and evaluated by other as helping or hindering their peers, accepting responsibility for gatekeeping,expediting by attempting to spread participation and timekeep ing.Gatekeeping and expending are directly connected with group members accepting responsibility to move the group through the group process stages as discussed in table 1. Timekeeping involves time management to ensure that the group keep within its time budget.

1.
How well has the group covered the subject? 2.
Did the authors' key points make sense?

3.
What areas of agreement did the group members reach? 4.
Where differences resolved?

5.
Was every group member heard and understood?

6.
Where there questions that needed further clarification? 7.
What areas of disagreement are there that cannot be answered?

8.
What contributed greatly to the discussion?9.
If someone did not contribute why not? 10.
Who and what inhibited the discussion?11.
Was nonfunctional or disruptive behaviour confronted and discussed?(Rabouw, et.al.,1994)The inquirer also identified and provided for the following ethical requirements: • recognition of the in q u irer's fram e of mind.The Table 3: Guidelines for preparation List all the concepts o f which your are unsure.Look them up and write down their definitions.
Step ( Robow, et.al.,1994)inquirer attempted to meet this requirement through reflex ive jo u rn al writing.Thoughts, assumptions, values and re flections exposed in the journal were challenged during peer debriefing sessions.
• research integrity and quality.The inquirer used peer debriefing sessions, member checks and rich de scriptions to improve the project quality.• worthiness of the project.The inquiry was seen as worthwhile, in that various authors and health professionals remarked on the need for learners to become conscious of their meaning perspectives, knowledge and actions, their prac tice experiences and the potentialities and constraints of their study and work setting (Bines & Watson, 1992;Street, 1991;Champion, 1992).

Assumption of the inquirer
The inquirer assumed that: • Critical reflective ability are developed in an environ

Ethical implications
The inquirer, by implications of the complexity, depth and impact of the inquiry needed to remain true to the principles of developing a true partnership with the participants.There fore, the inquirer sought to: • em power all who participated in the study.Each participant's viewpoints, beliefs and assumptions were respected.• provide educative opportunities.Opportunities to share, confront, criticize and learn from one another were a central feature of the inquiry.The inquirer attempted to let each participant emerge with more information and better understanding than he or she initially had.In addition the techniques provided an educa tive opportunity for the inquirer in that it resulted in better understanding of the participants' personal realities and the process of critical reflective practice.
being prepared to take personal risks: to sense the feel -ings of others deeply, to understand the meaning of their experiences for themselves, and to risk being personally changed.
-ment that allows the learner to reason dialectically, thus to reason across, between and beyond the neatly marshalled data of the given technical domain.

•
Dialogical thinking.Dialogical thinking is thinking that involves a dialogue or extended exchange between different points of view or frames of reference.cator therefore, empowers learners to learn a sense of intel lectual discipline and thoroughness.

• Reflective learning.
Reflective learning is the proc ess of making a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of an experience, which guides subsequent understanding, appreciation and action.It involves critical analysis and in terpretation of an experience, openness to new information, acceptance of self-reality, a change in personal perspective, and examination of the implications for future behaviour and others.

•
Reflective thinker.The ideal reflective thinker is more than thoughtful in that his or her reflective skills are intemalized.This involves a total response to a situation, event or internal feeling.In recapturing the experience the reflec tive thinker mulls over it, rationally examines it in an openminded and insightful way, effectively formulates competing assumptions, thinks about his or her thinking process itself, admits the feelings that accompany the situation and takes control of the situation.

•
Creativity.The element of creativity in relation to critical reflective thinking and practice may be described as the ability to sense gaps in problems within known informa tion, ability to see many relationships among elements; flex ibility in thinking and reorganization of understanding to produce innovative ideas and solutions; testing ideas and modi fying those ideas in a unique way; and communicating the results.Creativity involves curiosity, imagination, discovery, innovation, balance between divergent and convergent think ing, intuitive thought processes and contemplation of abstract philosophical issues.

Condensed literature review
An educational environment oriented toward empowerment of students liberates students from modes of thinking and learning which limit their potential and narrows their per spective.Such an environment provides a critical education.A critical education, according to Paul (1990) appeals to rea son and evidence, and encourages students to: use their own thinking to come to conclusions; defend positions and issues and solutions; consider a wide variety of points and views; analyse concepts, theories and explanation; clarify issues and conclusions; evaluate the credibility of sources; raise and pur sue root questions; solve non-routine problems; transfer ideas to new contexts; make interdisciplinary connections; evalu ate arguments, interpretations and beliefs ; generate novel ideas; question and discuss each other's views; compare per spectives and theories; compare ideals with actual practice; examine assumptions; distinguish relevant from irrelevant facts; explore implications and consequences; and come to terms with contradictions, and inconsistencies.
It is necessary to teach students to sift through huge amounts of information, make connections to prior knowledge and transform data to knowledge in an informed and critical way.Students need to become information literate.Socratic and dialogical techniques allow students to develop and evaluate their thinking in comparison to that of other students.They leam a sense of intellectual discipline and thoroughness.They leam to appreciate the power of critical, reflective and crea tive thinking.Broadly there are three (3) general forms of Socratic ques tioning or discussion: spontaneous (unplanned), exploratory and issue specific (Paul, 1990).Following is a short descrip tion of each:

•
Spontaneous.This type of discussion or questioning is teaching imbued with the Socratics spirit, implying that the educator often spontaneously asks students what they mean and explore with them how they might find out if something is true.It provides models of listening critically as well as exploring beliefs ex pressed.It helps students to become self-correcting.
• Exploratory.This form enables educators to find out what students know or think, and to probe students thinking on a variety of issues.This type of question ing or discussion raises a broad range of interrelated issues and concepts and require minimal preplanning.
It has a relatively loose structure.Educators prepare by having some general questions ready to raise when appropriate by considering the topic or issue, related issues and the key concepts to be discussed.They also prepare by predicting students' responses and prepar -ing some follow-up questions.However, it is impor tant to remember that once the thought processes of learners are stimulated, no one can predict the nature of the discussion.
• Issue-specific.To really probe an issue or concept in depth, to have students clarify, sort, analyse and evalu ate thoughts and perspectives, distinguish the known form the unknown, synthesize relevant factors and knowl edge, students should engage in extended and focused dis cussion.Issue-specific discussion provides students experi ence in engaging in an extended, ordered, and integrated dis cussion in which they discover, develop, and share ideas and insights.This type of discussion requires preplanning or thinking through possible perspectives on the issue, grounds for conclusions, problematic concepts as well as implications and consequences.
Care and caution should be used when introducing students to dialogical discussions and questioning for the first time.The level of questions and discussions should match the level of the students' thoughts and educators should not assume that students will be successful with it (except over a consid erable length of time).Dialectical and dialogical methods can foster cooperative learning, as the student must leam to earn the right to confidence in his beliefs by acquiring the capacity to make a reasonable case for the belief in question (Scheffler,1973).
The educator encourages mutual awareness, respect, and fair mindedness by pointing out such problems as not thought through interpretations of opposing viewpoints.Learners should also be required to prepare a defence of a position to which they were initially opposed.This is crucial because of the extreme difficulty of considering alternative frames of ref erence sympathetically.
The Learning Through Discussion Plan (LTD) is a proce dural tool that outlines an orderly sequence that a group should follow in order to leam from discussion.This plan is made up of eight steps (see table 1) that is followed during group discussions.Guidelines for preparation are also followed by students before the actual group discussion (see table 3).Stu dent members must prepare for the discussion meetings and approach the material as if they were conducting a silent group meeting, and prepare contributions at each step of the proc ess.Preparation guidelines are followed by students to en sure that they will have learned a great deal before the discus sion with peers begin.

Discussion of findings
For the purpose of this report the inquirer reflect only on the final feedback obtained at the end of the study period.The feedback was obtained with the help of a semi-structured ques tionnaire that was developed by the inquirer and critiqued by four peers for content validity.Please note that the respond ents feedback is precisely quoted as it was written/given in the completed questionnaires.

Participants' attitudes toward Socratic & LTD (Dialogical) Techniques
The participants (n =10) were requested to reflect on their feelings/attitudes regarding the chosen techniques (see figure 1) and to provide a short rationale/motivation for their an swers.
Participants provided the following rationale/motivation (M ) for their feelings:

•
The eight (8) participants with positive feelings: M 1 : It enlarges an individuals mind -learn to be assertive.M2: It forced me to become conscious of my habitual think ing, personal strengths and weaknesses.M3: It made me to be a creative thinker and to go back to material to internalize it.M4: It made me feel responsible for my learning.M5: Because the methods include teacher and student participation it is easy for the students to identify their problems, and the teacher can help where there is a need.M6: It made me conscious of peers feelings, thus, resulted in respect for others' opinions and values.M7: It forced me to participate in the class, thus, I find it easier to recall the knowledge during tests.M8: . . .made me conscious of the necessity to think an swers through, to motivate my viewpoints and to re spect others.

•
The one (1) participant with negative feelings, pro vided the following rationale: Some peers took dominance of the discussion and if one asked for clarification she would be told that she is delaying the group, however, others soon called that dominating figure to order.

•
The one (1) participant who indicated mixed feelings, provided the following rationale: I find the methods time-consuming and emotionally demand ing, however, I also benefited in that I was forced to cover a topic thoroughly.

Problems experienced by the participants
The ten (10)  The examples given in class make an individual not to forget easily."M3: It will increase participation in the learners and pos sibly motivate them."M4: I found it easy to master content and viewpoints."M5: It limited competitiveness between the learners and forces them to respect each others' strengths, weak nesses and different experiences.It makes you admit weak viewpoints."M6: The methods prevent rote learning, thus result in in sightful learning and efficient recall of knowledge when needed.This resulted in positive self-esteem."M7: I will recommend this methods because it improves the relationship between lecturer and learners, result ing in a comfortable learning environment in which no one is afraid to voice personal feelings and view points."M8: The methods make the subject content interesting, thus, motivates one to attend discussion sessions." The one (1) participant who indicated uncertainty provided the following rationale/motivation: Sometimes it was fulfilling, yet at other times it yielded to frustration and embarrassment.
Participants had to indicate: ( I will use the method as I personally find the lecture method boring and a waist of time.Lecture method mostly result in rote learning and limited effort from students." The one (1) participant who was uncertain provided the fol lowing rationale/motivation, whilst the one (1) student who would not use the techniques provided no rationale: I favour a mixture of teaching techniques so that every stu dent at time gets the favourite technique and sometimes has to put up with the least favourable.

The participants provided the following feedback regard ing the inquirer (educator) who facilitated Socratic & LTD (Dialogical) techniques
The participants were requested to reflect on the period of implementation of Socratic and LTD techniques and indicate whether the inquirer (educator) continuously modelled cer tain behaviour to ensure successful implementation of the tech niques (see table 4).
Seven (7) participants provided a short rationale/motivation (M): M1: . . .she continuously probed for motivation/exam ples/explanations.M2: . . .forced us to defend or explain personal view points, to admit habitual thinking, to listen to peers, to compare different experts viewpoints and then se lect an acceptable one.M3: . . .managed to make us conscious of the need for  . . .encouraged us to clarify personal value systems, inquire into that of peers, to listen attentively to each other, to be slow to judge and to defend our personal viewpoints if indicated.M5: I was made to understand that knowledge acquired in one topic can be applied in various situations, pro vided it is thought through and applied in such a way as to fit by use of valid motivation.M6: The educator exposed us to both the positive and nega tive sides of a viewpoint/issue/decision.She expected from us to take SA society into consideration before formulating a personal viewpoint.M7: . . .managed to make me conscious of the need to take responsibility for my own actions/learning and to critically reflect on consequences of decisions taken.She forced me to critically reflect on what I am saying and writing, in that she never credited test answers that were not appropriately motivated or explainedtelegram style was unacceptable.

General remarks revealed by the data
The questionnaire made provision for a space in which the participants write general remarks/feedback not covered by the semi-structured questions.Five (5) participants recorded the following general remarks (R): posed to different authors or experts viewpoints, as this re quired more reading and study time.The inquirer, however, observed that feedback (verbally in class and tests) no longer mirrored rote learning.Individual answers and motivations were now unique to the person.
• participants had to be reminded of previous learning and other subject content relevant to the material un der discussion.
Statements with regard to the study findings: • Guided critical reflective techniques should be intro duced as a requirement for basic-, post-basic and post graduate courses, as it will bring about learning that results in conceptual change and meaningful learn ing.
• Careful planning of a conducive environment is cru cial for critical reflective and creative learning.Selfevaluation by the educator is imperative to determine whether they are knowledgeable about, and comfortable with dialogical techniques and strategies.

•
Objectives and criteria for learning must be set at higher cognitive levels to encourage meaningful learning and the development of critical, reflective and creative skills.

R, :
I generally enjoyed the classroom sessions and more especially I feel even more responsible than before.r2 : At the end of the first module and following modules I found myself mastering the content.r3 : It has been a good year of self-discovery in which one was made to feel the importance of self-directed learning, an how much it yield to long lasting knowledge that is easily retrieved and applied in various situations.r4 : The methods kept students focused in class.They were actively participating, unlike when the lecturer was the only participant.r5 : I really wish to continue with you (the educator) in future.You've been the best teacher/ facilitator I've ever had."

Inquirer remarks
The inquirer observed during the first two (2) months of im plementation of the dialogical techniques that the participants found it difficult to adapt to the techniques: • some participants found it difficult to provide a ra tionale for their answers, opinions or viewpoints.When requested to do so, the participants reacted by not voicing their opinions/viewpoints.• from time to time individual participants failed to come prepared to discussions, however, the rest of the participants confronted the problem by objecting or by showing their dis approval with such conduct.
• at first individual participants objected to being ex- The empirical inquiry substantiated: • expert viewpoints (Paul, 1990;Mezirow, 1990;Bandman & Bandman, 1995) that critical reflective and creative strategies/techniques, such as Socratic and LTD techniques, are emotionally demanding and time consuming for all parities involved.• viewpoints ( Boud & Walker, 1991;Paul, 1990;Mezirow, 1990;Bandman & Bandman, 1995) that critical, reflective and creative skills need to be taught.• expert opinion (Paul, 1990;Mezirow, 1990;Rabow, Chamess, Kipperman & Radcliffe-Vasile, 1994;Bandman & Bandman, 1995) on the need for guid ance during critical, reflective and creative thinking and learning.• viewpoints (Paul, 1990;Sternberg, 1990;Rabow, et.al., 1994) possibility of fragm ented learning, time are now allocated to make conscious effort to relate learning to concepts acquired in previous learning sessions.The purpose is to take the argum ents of one a u th o r and either refute o r support them with an o th er point o f view.This means th a t the student should be able to tran slate u n d erstanding o f the w ork/article to peers, while also showing how the c u rre n t w ork/article relates to o ther literature.
2: S tate th e a u th o r's m essage Write down your version o f a general statem ent o f the author's message.S tep 3: Id en tify m a jo r them es a n d subtopics Identify and write down the subtopics in the readings/article.Step 4: Discuss the m a jo r them es an d subtopics Write out a b rief statement o f the subject matter o f each subtopic.Design a question that you would ask for each.S tep 5: In te g ra te m ateria l w ith o th e r know ledge Write down the meaning or usefulness the material has for understanding other concepts.Indicate what other ideas the material substantiates, contradicts or amplifies.Step 6: A pply th e m aterial Write down how the material can apply to your own life or work situations, or what implications the readings/articles has for your own intellectual interests or pursuits.S tep 7: E v alu a te th e a u th o r's presen tatio n Write down your reactions and evaluation o f the assignment.

Table 1 :
LTD process plan

3) their conflict with other thoughts/ideas
[Some people might object to your po sition by saying . . .How would you answer them ?What do you think o f this opposing view/idea ?How would you an swer objection th a t. .]; and (4) their implications and con sequences [What will the practical consequences be o f be lieving this?What would you have to do to put it into action?What follows from the view/idea th a t. ..?].The Socratic educator reflects analytical listening and active consideration of alternative points of view.He/she attempt to reconcile differences of viewpoint and tries to find out not just what learners think but whether what they think is actually so.The Socratic edu- on the product of thinking, in that learners are taught to pursue all ideas/thoughts in at least four directions:(1) their origin [How did you come to think this?Can you remember the circumstances in which you form ed this belief/idea?];(2) their support [ Why to do you think/belief this?Do you have any evidence fo r it?Why do people think/believe this?In believing/thinking this

Table 4 :
Feedback regarding the enquirer/educator

study the meaning o f difficult concepts in depth 9 1 • expected students to stay focused during discussions 10 0 • managed to make students conscious o f the need for critical, reflective 10 0
that Socratic & LTD techniques are a necessity for initiating conceptual change and meaningful knowledge.•Educatorswishing to implement Socratic & LTD tech niques in their work environment should first take time to get to know their students individual prefer ences and learning styles.Participation in Socratic & LTD Techniques will only be constructive if students participate voluntary.Therefore, students should be fully informed on the meaning and implications of tak ing part in these techniques.•It is important to notice that these techniques are time consuming and can therefore, not successfully be im plemented in periods of less than ninety minutes.•Socraticand LTD technique require venues that lend itself to group discussion.ConclusionDialogical and guided critical-reflective techniques are com patible with a Problem Based and Outcomes Based Curricu lum.The inquirer, however, wishes to stress the importance of modelling positive traits of mind and modes of thinking and learning.A transformative educator must lead learners to a point, at which they are intellectually comfortable with dialogical issues and critical, reflective and philosophical dis cussions.The educator must be motivated by personal ability to: Abstract and propositional skills do not occur naturally, they must be taught, practice, refined and reinforced.