Tips for Leading Discussions
Although initially designed for a classroom context, the following suggestions are equally valid online.
Motivating Students to Participate
- Choose topics that capture attention and arouse curiosity
- State incentives to participate in discussions
- Be enthusiastic about the topic
- Make it relevant
- Organize the discussion
- Aim at an appropriate level of difficulty
- Actively involve students
- Plan for variety
- Demonstrate student – teacher rapport
- Use concrete, appropriate and understandable examples
- Consider what we may inadvertently do that destroys student motivation
Initiating Discussions
- Develop a strategy for beginning the discussion or restarting it if it stalls
- Start with a common experience, an open-ended question, a controversy, or a document or product to critique
- Offer an example if the problem seems too abstract
- Allow sufficient wait time
Guiding Discussions
- Ask questions that promote discussion, don’t give answers
- Give and take control
- Move around the room
- Watch for non-verbal cues
- Ask for responses in writing
The Role of Questions
Depending on the level of the discussion, ask the following questions:
- Comprehension: Retell
- Application: How is … an example of…? How is … related to…?
- Analysis: What are the parts of …? How would you compare/contrast …? What evidence is there for…?
- Synthesis: What do you predict/infer…? How would you create/design …? What would the result be if you combined…?
- Evaluation: What are your points of agreement/disagreement and why? What criteria would you use to …?
Concluding the Discussion
- End with a summary so that students know what important points were covered
- Fill in points that weren't covered
- Praise the class for the quality of their responses
Suggestions
- Give frequent, early, positive feedback that supports students' belief that they can do well
- Ensure success by setting realistic task difficulty
- Help students find personal meaning and value in the material
- Create an open and positive atmosphere
- Help students feel they are valued members of a learning community
- Students bring research and/or questions to share
- Students write out questions in class
- Small groups address a task/discussion question
- Quickly review lecture notes to see if major points were covered
- Call on people – invite them to join the conversation
- Ask follow-up questions
- Use supplemental methods such as Discussions on Canvas
Common Problems
- Moderate the student who talks too much
- Help guide students who make unclear or hesitant comments
- Get back on track if the discussion goes off on a tangent
- Use a "parking spot" to record points that are off track/beyond the scope but important for another time
- Neutralize the student who attacks
- Redirect the student who tries to embarrass
Some material adapted from:
Teaching at Ohio State University: A Handbook, Center for Teaching Excellence & Tools for Teaching, Barbara Gross Davis, University of CA, Berkeley.