Handbook Table of Contents > Teaching Methods > Preparing for Discussions
Indiana University Teaching Handbook
Teaching Methods
Preparing for Discussions
Adapted with permission from Middendorf and Kalish, 1994
Some instructors have an unfortunate misunderstanding about the amount of preparation that discussions require. Too many instructors assume that you can “just walk in” to the classroom and begin useful discussion. It is as if they think that, with a basic understanding of the subject, they can rely upon their students to fill 40 or 50 minutes with questions and answers. However, a good discussion takes a great deal of prior planning and review of the subject matter.
Decide How Much Time You Want to Spend
Do you want this discussion to be a five-minute break in the middle of a lecture? Two minutes at the beginning of class to be sure they read the assignment? Or will you spend the entire class period having the students develop their own ideas? Any of these might be appropriate, depending on what your goal for the discussion is.
Develop a Clear Goal for the Discussion
Knowing the content to be covered is not enough. Naming the chapter your students will read is not enough. If you’ve only thought as far as, “I want students to know,” you haven't thought through enough about what needs to be taught. You should be able to articulate what the students will be able to do with the information or ideas. For example, in a philosophy class for which students have read a chapter on epistemologies or theories of knowledge, you might want students to be able to construct legitimate arguments for and against any epistemology about which they have read.
Problematize the Topic
Having a clear goal in mind makes it much easier to plan a discussion. You know what you want students to get out of it. But it is not enough: an instructor at IU several years ago told the story of how she wanted her students to deal with the issue of prejudice. She tried to start discussion merely by saying “Discuss prejudice.” No one spoke. She then asked if anyone had seen prejudice. One student raised a hand. When she asked what it was like, the student merely said “awful.” She had a goal, but not a problem or an activity to get the students to engage the ideas to achieve the goal.
The opposite end of the spectrum is also a problem. While “Discuss prejudice” is too open-ended, merely asking for the basic facts won’t work either. You’ve probably heard a professor rattle off a list of questions that require only brief factual replies and little student involvement:
Q. When was the Battle of Hastings?
A. 1066.
The result could hardly be called a discussion. So, give your students an open-ended problem to solve, a task to complete, a judgment to reach, a decision to make, or a list to create—something that begs for closure.
Select an Activity to Frame the Problem
Many discussion activities can be used in the classroom. You want to choose one that will help your students meet your goals for the discussion. The more specific you can be in assigning the task, the more likely your students will be to succeed at it. Some possible tasks are as follows: Think-Pair-Share, brainstorm, buzz groups, case analysis, role-playing, and press conferences. Some of these techniques are described in articles listed here.
Choose a Grouping Method
Vary groups by size, method of selection, and duration.
- By size: Two to six is ideal. Smaller groups (two-three) are better for simple tasks and reaching consensus. Also, students are more likely to speak in smaller groups. Larger groups of four-five are better for more complex tasks and generating lots of ideas.
- By selection: Randomly assigning students to groups avoids the problem of friends wanting to get off track. For long-term groups, you may want to select for certain attributes or skills (e.g. a statistician, a geology major, and a writer) or by interest in the topic, if different groups have different tasks.
- By duration: Just for this activity or for all semester. Stop the discussion groups while they are still hard at work; next time, they will work doubly hard. Long-term groups allow students to practice collaborative skills and make stronger bonds, but sometimes they get tired of each other.
Choose a Debriefing Method
Many techniques can get students to share what their smaller groups have done with the entire class: verbally, on newsprint/flipchart, blackboard or overhead, ditto/photocopy, etc. And you don't have to hear from everyone; calling on a few groups at random to report works quite well.
Always debrief students; it is the most important part of a discussion, the time to summarize and synthesize. Most of learning in discussions happens during debriefing, so don't squeeze it in—a rule of thumb is to use one-third of the total discussion time for debriefing.
You can use debriefing to correct incorrect notions. You can slip in any points that students neglected but that are important. You can pick which student reports from each group, though you should tell them in advance that you plan to do this. This makes everyone in the group responsible. You don’t have to hear from every group, but can instead choose a few at random. When groups start repeating ideas, it’s time to stop.
