Teaching Tips

Leading Class Discussions

Overview

Class discussions provide a framework for students to think critically—out loud—about topics being covered in class. They also provide an opportunity to gauge how well your students are comprehending course concepts, assignments, and outside readings.

Properly facilitated, classroom discussions foster a sense of academic community, one in which students may openly share their thoughts and ideas as well as express, defend and explore differing opinions.

This guide is designed to help you develop strategies for facilitating classroom discussions successfully.

Your Role as a Facilitator

Depending on the type of discussion you are having, your role will vary. For instance, a discussion about an assigned reading will be more student-centered. You will want to remain more in the background than one in which you are introducing and/or explaining a new concept.

The role you assume will shape your facilitation strategy as well. And often, you will find that by tweaking your preferred role a bit, you will be able to use the same, or similar, strategies in more than one situation. Here are some tips that will help.

Creating Classroom Community

Decide what type of classroom community you would like to create. Will you require that all students participate in discussions? Do you mind if three or four talkative students dominate discussions? Would you like students to address each other (sitting in a circle) or would you like them to address you (sitting in rows)?

Often, this will depend on your students’ participation. If you have a quiet class, you may decide that calling on students to answer questions is more appropriate than letting two or three students answer every question. The decisions you make about classroom community should reflect your style and your students’ needs.

Remain Objective: Focus on Student Contributions

It’s best to remain objective on thematic issues discussed in class. If students pick up on your views, they might only contribute with what they “think” you want to hear. This obstructs critical thinking and keeps them from expressing their own views. Also, if you share too many opinions, students may refute these in class. This puts you in a position of having to defend your views.

Be Honest: Criticize Constructively

Validate students’ comments, but be honest with them. Although it isn’t easy, it’s important to provide constructive criticism when a student misinterprets a text or provides an incorrect answer. You don’t want others to become confused about important concepts.

Keep in mind that providing criticism doesn’t need to be awful and humiliating. There are tactful ways to be honest while still rewarding a student for participating in the discussion.

For example, when a student gets off track you might say:

“That’s really interesting, but I’m not sure how your point addresses the question. Help me understand the connection you’re making?”

This provides an opportunity for the student to offer more of an explanation, or to concede that perhaps there wasn’t a connection after all. Either way, tactful comments and questions like this help place responsibility for contributing additional information, or making corrections to an original response, upon the student’s shoulders; not yours.

Staying on Track

Regardless of the type of discussion, one of your most important facilitation goals is keeping it on track.

Picture this. During a discussion in which you have asked: “What are your views on urban sprawl?” One student says, “I don’t like urban sprawl because it keeps me from riding my horse on what used to be country roads.” Another student jumps in and says, “Did you know that dog food is made out of horses?” Another exclaims, “Oh gross!” Another, “I like dogs more than horses.”

So, what do you do? You want your students participating, but you do not want them going astray. It is up to you to keep them focused. There is no single method that works for everyone. Much depends on your personal teaching style and how you structure your classroom community.

If you create a student-centered environment and require meaningful participation, the discussion will be productive and student involvement will not be forfeited. Here are a few suggestions to help you start thinking about ways to keep classroom discussions on track.

Plan "Goal-Oriented" Discussions

Have a goal. Know what you want to accomplish and have a plan for doing it. Making the plan “goal-oriented” makes it less likely that you will get distracted when your students start wandering astray. When they do get off-topic, you will find it easier to refocus their attention.

Ask "Goal-Oriented" Questions

Kick-start discussions with “goal-oriented” questions: questions designed to move your students in a specific direction that keeps them focused on your pre-planned objective. Try writing them out on the board while you are in the act of beginning the discussion. Should the discussion veer off course, the written question itself will serve as a prop to help you refocus everyone’s attention.

Avoid Being Derailed

Don’t allow unrelated questions to bump you off course. Whenever students raise concerns and questions that threaten to derail the discussion, ask them to see you after class, or later, during office hours. Addressing off-topic issues during class can cause your lesson plans and objectives to suffer, if not go unmet altogether.

You're the Conductor: Stay on Track

Solicit comments and questions directly related to the topic you’re addressing. Avoid giving undue attention to students who interject irrelevant comments. Recognize the approaching derailment and take immediate steps to stay on track. In other words, head it off at the pass.

In the opening example, for instance, you might use humor, (i.e. “As interesting as dog food is to us all, we need to address the issue at hand.”). When gentle humor fails, a firmer approach, (i.e. “I’m not sure how these responses relate to the question I just asked.”), might be necessary.

Thinking on Your Feet

Thinking on your feet can be the most challenging part of leading a discussion. A lot of things are going on all at once.

You are reflecting on what you’ve already accomplished and what you have left to accomplish. You’re connecting earlier discussion threads to the one developing now, not to mention addressing students’ concerns and validating their comments, all at the same time.

It’s the nature of teaching—thinking on your feet. Here are a few tips to help you pull it off.

Be Well-Prepared

Be well prepared. Plan your topic introductions, transitions, and conclusions ahead of time. Prepare the questions you want your discussion to revolve around in advance as well. If you need examples to illustrate or explain a new concept, have them ready. Thinking on your feet goes a lot smoother when you have fewer things to think about.

Learn to Stall

Learn to buy yourself some on-your-feet thinking time, especially if you didn’t hear the question, or think you didn’t hear it correctly, or you flat-out don’t have an answer fight there on the tip of your tongue. Keep a few stall-for-time questions handy. Ask for the question to be repeated, for instance, or rephrased. This gives you a few minutes in which to consider the question further, and to shape your response.

Be Honest

Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” It’s perfectly alright. No one expects you to have all the answers. What you can admit to is being a living, breathing human being; that you can be just as wrong as the next. A little humility goes a long way. No one likes a know-it-all, anyway.

Students usually know when you don’t have an answer. Rather than making something up, tell them outright that you’re unsure. Follow up with the promise that you will look in to it and get back to them as soon as possible. Then do it: Honesty is hard to disrespect, and your students will appreciate the courtesy you show them when you “walk-the-walk.”

Don't Fear the Silence: Respect It - Use It

Get used to dead air…all those eyes looking at you…waiting…waiting. There’s nothing wrong with it. Get comfortable in the presence of silence. You’re the instructor: Give yourself time to think before responding (fifteen seconds usually works).

It might feel like a lifetime but it’s not. Students will respect you once they’ve seen that you’ve taken the time to consider their question carefully before responding. Likewise, when you ask a question, give your students some time to think.

Not many of us produce brilliant comments out of thin air. If you find yourself waiting too long, rephrase the question until someone offers an answer. Sometimes – it’s possible – the question just wasn’t clear the first time around.

Gauging Comprehension

It’s important for you to understand how well your students are grasping important ideas and concepts. Here are some suggestions for getting the feedback you need to gauge whether they are “getting it” or not and what they are missing.

Avoid Yes or No Questions

Avoid asking yes or no questions and phrases. For instance, “Does this make sense?” Naturally, “yes” is the response you most want to hear. Guess what happens? So, of course, it’s always surprising when, later, several students admit how completely lost they are.

To help them comprehend key ideas and concepts, ask pointed questions that require students to use their own prior knowledge, or open-ended questions that require some critical thinking.

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

After you’ve explained an important concept or a difficult set of instructions, ask students to summarize or paraphrase it in their own words. Whenever appropriate ask them to include examples. If you’d like to gauge the extent of all students’ comprehension, have them turn in written summaries.

Using Quizzes

Give short quizzes on important concepts or ideas covered either in class or in an assigned reading.

Creating a Discussion Plan