Educational scholars Maria Chen and David Rodriguez investigated patterns of student involvement across various academic settings. Intimate discussion...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Educational scholars Maria Chen and David Rodriguez investigated patterns of student involvement across various academic settings. Intimate discussion groups typically provide more individualized focus compared to expansive lecture halls, yet discussion groups usually demand comprehensive advance work, conversation management, and customized responses that lecture formats do not require, therefore both approaches frequently necessitate comparable faculty investment per learner. Their research indicates that as discussion group registration nears ideal enrollment boundaries, substantive engagement becomes challenging to sustain. To maintain discussion groups' benefit as a concentrated educational format, ______
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
discussion groups should emphasize specialized subjects while lectures should address foundational content.
preparation, dialogue, and response techniques from lectures may need to be incorporated into discussion groups.
learners in discussion groups will need to acknowledge that engagement opportunities will resemble those in expansive lectures.
academic institutions may need to establish additional discussion group sections for these courses.
Looking at this inference question, I need to understand what solution logically follows from the research findings presented.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Educational scholars Maria Chen and David Rodriguez investigated patterns of student involvement across various academic settings." |
|
| "Intimate discussion groups typically provide more individualized focus compared to expansive lecture halls," |
|
| "yet discussion groups usually demand comprehensive advance work, conversation management, and customized responses that lecture formats do not require," |
|
| "therefore both approaches frequently necessitate comparable faculty investment per learner." |
|
| "Their research indicates that as discussion group registration nears ideal enrollment boundaries, substantive engagement becomes challenging to sustain." |
|
Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Research shows that while discussion groups offer more individualized attention than lectures, they become less effective when enrollment gets too high, requiring a solution to maintain their concentrated educational benefits.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes research comparing discussion groups and lectures, showing that despite discussion groups requiring more work, both formats need similar faculty investment. However, the research reveals a problem - discussion groups lose their effectiveness when enrollment gets too high - leading to the need for a solution to preserve their concentrated format benefits.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The passage identifies a specific problem: when discussion group enrollment gets close to ideal boundaries, it becomes hard to maintain substantial engagement
- Since discussion groups' main benefit is providing concentrated, individualized attention, the solution needs to address this enrollment issue while preserving that concentrated format
- Key elements the correct answer must have: Address the enrollment/engagement problem, preserve the concentrated educational format benefit, be a logical solution that institutions could actually implement
- So the right answer should suggest a practical way to keep discussion groups small enough to maintain their engagement advantages, likely involving managing class sizes or creating more sections
discussion groups should emphasize specialized subjects while lectures should address foundational content.
✗ Incorrect
- This suggests content specialization for discussion groups vs foundational content for lectures
- Doesn't address the enrollment/engagement problem at all
- Focuses on what topics should be taught rather than how to maintain engagement quality
preparation, dialogue, and response techniques from lectures may need to be incorporated into discussion groups.
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests incorporating lecture techniques into discussion groups
- This would undermine the concentrated format benefit that makes discussion groups valuable
- Goes against the passage's emphasis on preserving discussion groups' distinct advantages
learners in discussion groups will need to acknowledge that engagement opportunities will resemble those in expansive lectures.
✗ Incorrect
- Says engagement in discussion groups will resemble large lectures
- This defeats the entire purpose of discussion groups as concentrated formats
- Accepts the problem rather than solving it
academic institutions may need to establish additional discussion group sections for these courses.
✓ Correct
- Suggests creating additional discussion group sections
- Directly addresses the enrollment problem by keeping individual sections smaller
- Maintains the concentrated educational format by preventing any single section from getting too large
- Matches our prethinking about needing a practical solution for managing class sizes