Scenario: Indirect Student Response

During lecture, the professor mentions Mormons as an example of religions founded in a certain time period. Upon mention of the word “Mormon,” a student laughs out loud.

This is a scenario that happened in the classroom of a member of the Productive Discomfort cohort. The group discussed possible responses, including:

• Clarify what outburst means: Was it the word “Mormon” or was the student laughing about something else?
• Ask student what was funny
• Ask student: Do you disagree with my example?
• Ask student: Do you have a question about what I am talking about?
• Mormons are not the topic of the lecture but an example within the lecture. Because of this, some participants did not want to stop the lecture to discuss the outburst while others wanted to check in with the class and perhaps discuss conceptions people have about Mormons.