Abstract:

In this study, we highlight that the ability to remember the content of each discussion session appropriately is an essential skill for problem-solving-oriented discussions. We then propose a reflection framework that supports such memory and report the results of a pilot study of the method conducted with college students.

Problem-solving-oriented discussions have two main characteristics. First, it combines a divergent process that creates a heterogeneous state by incorporating various opinions and ideas with a convergent process that selects ideas through critical examination, trims off the superfluous, and organizes them. As a result of this process of convergence, the outcome of the discussion becomes coherent. The second concerns the continuity of the discussions themselves. This is because real-world problems are rarely resolved in a single discussion and require the accumulation of multiple discussion sessions. Therefore, the content of a discussion session should be appropriately memorized in a form that can be used in the next discussion session.

To use the content of the preceding discussion in the next discussion to deepen it, we need information on the flow of the preceding discussion, important junctures, participants' voices that disappeared during the discussion, and agendas that may have existed. It is difficult for learners to memorize the content of discussions in a manner that encompasses such complex trajectories and uncertainties.

As a training tool, the authors devised a framework for reflecting on a discussion called the Discussion-HistorioGram (DHG). This is a chronological worksheet for learners to recall and record the discussion session process. The worksheet is divided into two areas: an “official history” area and a “side story” area. In the official history section, the learner divides the discussion stream into periods, names them, and describes the events that are characteristic of each period. The learner also identifies branching points, which is, for example, a decisive opinion, idea, or controversy that moves the discussion to the next period. The side-story section records ideas, people's voices, and emotions that were hidden and forgotten in the process of the discussion and arguments that might have been, among other aspects. By reflecting on the discussion using the DHG, the learner becomes aware of the historical trajectory of the discussion, as well as the voices and opinions that disappeared in the process of converging the discussion. Through this guided reflection, they are expected to improve their method of memorizing the content of discussion.

In a pilot study, we asked six college students to reflect on their discussions of "prenatal diagnosis and abortion" using the DHG. In the reflection with DHG, they divided the official history into three periods: the "mutual expression of opinions," the "conflict," and the "acceptance of abortion.” And they were able to identify the crucial argument that made the transition to the “acceptance of abortion.” As a side story, they pointed out the child's feelings were completely forgotten during the discussion. In the re-discussion that followed this reflection, they re-examined the validity of the argument that made their discussion progress towards the acceptance of abortion, and the child's point of view was considered. As described above, various possibilities for the DHG have been proposed.

Keywords:

problem solving, discussion, memory skill, multivocality, historical representation of discussion.