Sisco touts forums as a “tool for citizens to practice an participate in democracy.” Other writers have pointed out that the forum is one of the best methods for dealing with controversial questions and obtaining active audience participation.
A forum is a semiformal, open discussion where 25 or more people come together for the purpose of “diffusion of knowledge, information or opinion” (Sisco, 407). A moderator guides the discussion and the audience is encouraged to join the discussion, make comments and ask questions.
A panel is less open. It consists of 3 to 6 people having a purposeful conversation in the presence of an audience. A moderator guides the discussion, but the audience only watches and listens. It is often combined with a forum to enable audience members to participate.
A symposium is a more formal series of presentations. Questions from the audience are encouraged after each presentation. Symposium presenters rarely engage with one another.
Application: I have moderated a few forums and at least one panel. I moderated a series of “Critical Conversations” for eXtension Network Literacy (here’s an example, https://youtu.be/AwosLxY8TJ4). These forums brought together 3 -5 resource people with experience in the discussion topic and encouraged the audience to get involved in the conversation any time. The forums were presented on YouTube Live, so people from around the world could participate. Audience members could make comments and ask questions in the comments section of the broadcast, but we also allowed audience members to request microphone access, so we could invite them to share their voice and video in the same space as the resource people.
The panel I moderated was a face-to-face event at the 2014 National eXtension Conference. I moderated a panel made up of the conference main speakers: Dave Gray, Jane Hart, Harold Jarche and Beth Kanter. The panel discussed issues around the future of work in the digital age. The panel was followed by a forum when audience members could ask questions and make comments.
Assessment: Checklist/questionnaire
The only assessment that was done for the examples above was as part of the overall conference evaluation. I think the checklist that Sisco suggests for forum and panel evaluation could have worked well (413-418). I would design a checklist that was a mix of the objectives of the organizing body, the resource people and the moderator. Including a questionnaire in the evaluation would give audience members a chance to reflect on and share their specific experience.
References
Sisco, Burton R. (2004). Forum, Panel, and Symposium. In Michael W. Galbraith (Eds.), Adult Learning Methods: A Guide for Effective Instruction (3rd Ed.) (405-423). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company.