Table 2 Examples of mono discourse, dialogic discourse with low-level interanimation of ideas, and dialogic discourse with high-level interanimation of ideas

Mono

A. Somebody shares how they enforce attendance in their class, “I do X.” This is not followed up on; conversation moves on to a new topic.

B. Sharing facts: someone says, “My institution has a policy which prohibits us from including attendance in our grades.”

C. Somebody shares how they enforce attendance in their class, “I do X.” Other people ask clarifying questions about the policy, e.g., “Can you say more about X?”

D. Two incomparable ideas: somebody shares how they enforce attendance in their class, “I do X.” They then add, “But you know, attendance doesn’t seem to affect students’ performance on exams.” This is not followed-up on by anyone else.

Dialogic discourse with low-level interanimation of ideas

E. Multiple people share how they enforce attendance in their class. This is done in a round-robin format: “I do X,” “I do Y.” People do not directly engage in what others have shared.

F. One person shares “I used to do X to enforce attendance. This semester I am using Y.” They do not directly compare these practices.

Dialogic Discourse with high-level Interanimation of ideas

G. Multiple people share how they enforce attendance in their classes and these ideas are directly compared, contrasted, and/or engaged with. Person A shares, “I do X.” Person B responds, “I’ve tried X before and it didn’t work for my class because of ___. Instead, I find that practice Y is a more effective strategy.”

H. One person shares, “I used to do X to enforce attendance and I thought it was perfect for my small class size. However, this semester I also have a small class and X has not worked. Instead, I now think Y is a better strategy to handle attendance in small classes because ___.”