Turn and Talk: Educational tool or not so cool

John Powers FLAT HAT OPINIONS ASSOC.

Other times, you happen to get a partner who is not in the mood to engage with the activity, which undercuts its whole purpose. However, they should not be blamed. I’ve been there. College is stressful, and we all sometimes just want to go to class to sit down and take notes, nothing more. Of course, I’ve also had some fulfilling turn and talk experiences on questions that necessitated its use, but these experiences are exceptions to the practice.

So, if it is clear that turn and talks do not quite work out the way they are intended to, it begs the question of why some professors choose to use it excessively in the first place. I would guess that one reason is purely for the sake of interaction. While social interaction is not the sole pedagogical rationale of turn and talks, it nevertheless is important to a class. For example, because one of my classes is large, I benefited from a turn and talk on the first day of class. I got to meet two peers and eventually began working with them outside of class on homework. Evidently, turn and talks are appropriate in some instances.

After taking an ethics course, I have found that many students at the College of William and Mary reject the validity of ethics and its approaches. Considering that most people seem to value acting virtuously, this is a regrettable turn of events. In this article, I address some of the common objections raised by the average student because it is their appreciation of ethics that will most benefit society.

The first misconception is that the method of creating thought experiments and reasoning is too abstract to be useful. For twamps who are used to modeling observations collected in the material world, craning your head back and imagining improbable situations seems alien. But is it really, though?

GRAPHIC BY SYEDA SAFDAR // THE FLAT HAT

At the start of this semester, I was expecting many changes in my classes, but one I did not see coming was the use of turn and talks. Any student has probably done one before: the professor poses a question to the class, students discuss their answers with the person sitting next to them and then the professor may call on a few pairs so that they can share their responses with the class.

I participated in turn and talks last semester, but their prevalence was minimal. Sure, I worked with my neighbor to fill in the blanks in Spanish sentences on occasion and had one discussion in an economics class. This semester, though, turn and talks are very common in three out of five of my classes across different disciplines. It is very reminiscent of high school and middle school. Don’t get me wrong, robust discussion and group work are vital elements of any learning experience. I love participating and gaining insights from my peers. However, the excessive use of the turn and talk poses a problem to students.

I see the underlying rationale for the use of the turn and talk as threefold. First, it serves to get students talking with each other, which promotes collaboration and makes the lesson less professor-centered. Second, it is designed to foster a synthesis of different ideas as students consider their neighbor’s response and make new connections. Third, it is an alternative to other discussion methods, which may be plagued by students who are more vocal and thus dominate discussions.

Turn and talks usually last just a few minutes, so it would seem rather unrealistic to expect fleshed-out ideas and connections to be shared with the class.

The problem is that it rarely works out this way. Turn and talks usually last just a few minutes, so it would seem rather unrealistic to expect fleshed-out ideas and connections to be shared with the class. Oftentimes, turn and talks are employed for simple recall questions with easy answers. What substantive collaboration is to be expected here? Time after time, my partner has said the same thing I would have said, and vice versa.

For the College of William and Mary, the emphasis on performative learning techniques like turn and talks do not meet the moment. Excessive turn and talks only exacerbate the declining attention spans our generation has from social media and technology.

But probing deeper reveals a more fundamental reason for turn and talks: to make classrooms more studentcentered. This is seen in the fact that over the past few decades, classrooms have generally become less strict, structured and soldier-like and instead more dynamic. American education has gone from the days of the 1950s, where “quiet” was upheld as the key virtue of elementary schools, to the days where teachers in New York City are asked to use discussion techniques that prompt “unsolicited contributions” from students. Turn and talks are one of many of the building blocks of this educational transformation.

It’s trickled up to higher education, and even to training sessions. It seems as though an expectation that students pay attention and take notes is wholly unreasonable and that every learning experience must be peppered with active learning techniques and collaboration. Yet the irony is that activities can look and sound active but involve no deep thinking. Indeed, turn and talks are often performative.

For the College of William and Mary, the emphasis on performative learning techniques like turn and talks do not meet the moment. Excessive turn and talks only exacerbate the declining attention spans our generation has from social media and technology. There is room at our institution for some learning experiences devoid of interruptions and full of professor expertise.

Professors should have the space to lecture for prolonged periods, and when the time for discussion comes, it shouldn’t be an experience in which they go through a monotonous routine of calling on a few pairs and moving on. Instead, it is the role of the professor to seek out responses, challenge them and really contribute to the learning experience.

Turn and talks may play a minor role in classroom discussion, but they shouldn't play a major role.

John Powers '26 is a prospective Public Policy major who hails from Brooklyn, New York. He is a proud member of the William and Mary Debate Society. Contact him at jdpowers@wm.edu.

What's the problem with the pickle?

Avi Joshi FLAT HAT OPINIONS EDITOR

The purpose of studying thought experiments is therefore to investigate your intuitions: comparing them in different situations builds the robustness of your convictions so that you'll know

When you see your crush in class and fantasize about them approaching you, you are imagining yourself in an improbable situation for precisely the same reason that ethicists use thought experiments —you want to know what you would do. However, ethicists also do it to break down why they do certain things. Though you might conclude that you would ignore “Chem Cutie" because your palms get sweaty, you probably also acknowledge that a better course for you might be to ask a funny question.

Ethicists do this same thing with an undoubtedly more important — and harder — question: what is right?

To reject the usefulness of examining why we believe what is right and what is wrong is to take an “I’ll know it when I see it” attitude to one of the most important questions. This seems to be an acceptable approach to assessing dinner plans but what about rightness? Our ethical positions seem like something we should at least make sure are logically consistent.

“This is nice and all,” one might say, “but what can considering thought experiments do for us?” They are, after all, absurd situations. “Maybe I’ll pull them out when I’m handling a trolley lever or have been caught robbing a bank with an accomplice.”

Thought experiments do involve absurd situations, but they were seldom intended to present realistic situations in the first place. Instead, they highlight clashes of values that may not be so absurd. You might never be a surgeon deciding whether to butcher the suburban dad in your waiting room, but do you truly expect that you will never have to weigh an action’s harm to some against its benefit to many?

The purpose of studying thought experiments is therefore to investigate your intuitions:comparing them in different situations builds the robustness of your convictions so that you’ll know what to do, when to do it and why.

GRAPHIC BY CATHERINE STORKE // THE FLAT HAT

A good chicken sandwich needs four things to be perfect. One: Soft but toasted buns, like clouds with texture. Two: A relatively medium-sized piece of crispy fried chicken. Three: A sauce of the consumer's choice. And four: some crisp, salty pickles. Yes, I keep the pickles on my chicken sandwiches. “Oh my!” you exclaim, “You must be some kind of adult who isn’t a five year old.” Yes, I am an adult, and I like pickles. It is not hard to like them either.

Dill pickles, pickled onions, pickled mango, etc. are all absolutely delicious. I have never truly understood why people do not want pickles on their chicken sandwiches. It is not that I am mad at these people, but rather I just question their decision aggressively. Let’s start with the positives of pickles, of which there are many. The most important thing about pickles is moderation. They are obviously not the star of the dish; they are more like the finishing touch. Pickled onions are perfect on tacos, pickled cabbage is great in salads and good ol’ pickles are essential on a fried chicken sandwich. They offer a different kind of crisp from the skin of the chicken. The flavor they provide to the sandwich is complex and unique. Yes, it is polarizing and can be harsh. However, it is exactly what the sandwich needs. Usually, fried chicken sandwiches are heavy and greasy — it sort of comes with the territory — so having a few pickles to cut through that grease and add some bright flavor makes the fried chicken sandwich a true culinary masterpiece. I ask again: what is the problem with pickles? I think the main reason why pickles receive so much hate is because of fear. People are scared of the complexity of pickles. The harsh and intense flavor frightens their taste buds. It could also just be personal preference, but I doubt it. Okay fine, yes, it is personal preference. Not everyone needs to love pickles as much as I do. However, I think that pickle haters need to give it another try. Do not just ask for no pickles without first giving it a try. If you have tried it and still hated it, then I think you need to try a different approach. For starters, you could try isolating the pickle. Now, this will only work for a small group of people, but it is definitely worth a shot. The most effective way of finding a love for pickles is by trying them on other food that you like. Pickles are not just a sandwich topping. A great place to start is with different variations of pickles, such as fried pickles and pickles from other parts of the world. For example, kimchi is fantastic. In India, there are hundreds of different pickle varieties that are eaten in many ways. So just please try and give pickles another try. Whether it’s on a fried chicken sandwich or some other culinary creation, just try some pickles. They are an incredible topping on all kinds of dishes and are severely misunderstood. Try some freaking pickles!

AviJoshi’26isaprospectiveEnglishmajorandEducationminor.Heisan

At least in the social sciences, many turn to economic measurement of measuring preferences or wellbeing to address many of the same questions. Doing so, however, completely neglects the fact that economics spawned from a school of ethics called utilitarianism. What economics traditionally recommends is, then, an approximation of what is right under utilitarianism. Limitations to this approximation lead to economic advice with seemingly morally repugnant conclusions. Economics is thus a complement — not substitute — for ethics.

To recapitulate, ethics lays the groundwork for righteous action. Its methods are natural to us and — more importantly — valid. It therefore stands that we should all study it to better ourselves and the world around us.

Stanley Wang '23 is majoring in Economics. He is involved with Club Rowing and the Citizens Climate Lobby. Contact him at sjwang01@wm.edu.