Handbook Table of Contents > Teaching Methods > Facilitating Discussions
Indiana University Teaching Handbook
Teaching Methods
Facilitating Discussions
Adapted with permission from Middendorf & Kalish, 1994
- Establish a safe atmosphere to encourage participation, one in which students feel comfortable with one another and safe from harsh judgment. No one wants to feel that his or her remark will be put down or put off. Students are also sensitive to what they think you really want. (E.g., Does he want a discussion or a chance for an extended monologue? Does she say she wants disagreement and then gets defensive when someone challenges her?) Your students will try to read you so that they can respond appropriately. Be sensitive to the clues you give them.
- Create the expectation of participation by arranging the room so students can see one another’s faces. Devise ways so that students have something to say early in the semester. If discussion is to be a large component of the course, the first day of classes is not too early to start.
- Set clear expectations. Provide clear directions for the discussion activity. Explain that your role is facilitator rather than presenter of information. Students should address their comments to one another, not to you. Avoid dominating the discussion by becoming the expert. When they try to put you back in the authority role, throw the question back to the group.
- Pose a problem to solve, a question to answer, a task to complete, or a role to play. Don't just name a topic and hope a discussion will ensue.
- Monitor the discussion by listening and observing. Be sure that students understand the assignment. Help any group that begins to wander, not by providing the answer, but by initiating a line of inquiry to restore focus, even within a free-ranging discussion.
- Summarize the discussion; sometimes a faltering discussion can be put back on track or shifted away from a thoroughly explored subtopic to another aspect of a main topic. Always summarize and synthesize at the end of the session. You may use this time to add any points to the discussion that the students overlooked.
