SOCRATES ONLINE

The Socratic method is an effective way to ensure that learning is more than merely the transmission of facts, that it enriches understanding as well. When done well, teaching by asking questions and following the implications of student answers to these questions with further questions, flourishes in a face-to-face teaching format. But how does it fare in an on-line format, where student reactions and responses to questions are not immediate, where the cues for which question to ask next are absent? In this paper I will discuss my experience of teaching hybrid courses that disavowed me of the belief that the Socratic method requires face-to-face teaching. The key to the success of these courses was to transfer this technique from the professor to the students. When on-line discussion assignments are properly constructed to be real discussions, students begin to question each other about their publically stated beliefs. Once they get used to this and feel comfortable with their questioning, the professor can temporarily recede into the background, students themselves become Socratic questioners, and the chase for truth is on.