Dr. Knott describes using Dialogue Questions in a January 2001 article in The Teaching Professor. He begins each day with a five- to twenty-minute exercise based on assigned readings. He gives students an open-ended stimulus question, statement, or quote, and asks each to write a response that is his/her "informed opinion." For example, he might ask students to identify the three most important issues in the reading, to discuss a relevant case, or to identify key principles based on the reading. Partners exchange papers, and each provides a short written reply to his/her partner. This process requires about five minutes of class time. Sometimes he follows this with 10-minute, four-person discussions of the Dialogue Question, followed by a one-minute written summary and response from each student. This longer process requires about twenty minutes of class time. Dr. Knott collects all papers, and provides very brief comments on their content. Students select a new partner each week. Dr. Knott finds that this process engages students in "a thinking exercise that values their opinions, enables them to see multiple perspectives, . . . fosters teamwork, and adds some dynamism to the class at the outset of each meeting." Because he does this at each class meeting, students soon learn to take reading assignments seriously.
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