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If a student makes a good comment, refer back to that comment in subsequent discussions (e.g., “Do you recall what Henry said last week? How does this new information confirm or deny his conclusion?”). Avoid a style of questioning that is designed to punish inattentive or lazy students.If you want your students to entertain broad questions, break the question down into smaller queries that students are more able to address. Sensing that you have said your piece, students may only ask questions about minor points of clarification or will simply hope that rereading the textbook will answer their questions. Consider asking instead, “Is there anything that is unclear or needs further clarification?” Avoid asking, “Are there any questions?” This implies you have finished talking about a topic.Open-ended questions elicit student thought (“In what way has X impacted Y?”) Avoid yes/no questions – Don’t phrase questions in a way that the students can answer in one word (“Is X true?”).Combine topics or concepts to form new topics or concepts.Apply abstract concepts to concrete situations.Ask a mix of questions, including questions that ask students to.Use phrasing that implies that the students are a learning community (“Are we in agreement?” / “Do we have any differences of opinion?”).Ask questions that encourage responses from several people (“What do the rest of you think about that?”).After asking a question, wait at least eight to ten seconds before calling on someone to answer it (measure the time by counting silently to yourself). Otherwise, you signal they need only wait a few seconds for the “right” answer to discussion questions.Don’t let students sit in seats that are outside this discussion space. Arrange seats in a circle or in a manner that enables students to see each other easily. If possible, make the class space more conducive to discussion.Before the discussion starts, ask your students to take several minutes to write down everything they know about the topic of the discussion.Encourage students to look and talk to each other rather than to just look and talk to you. Too often “discussions” take the format of a dialogue between teacher and a series of students.Every student should have an opportunity to speak.You may want to begin class with a short reading from the text and have discussion flow from that reading.
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If students were assigned reading prior to a class meeting, plan to use the text.Your questions should be a resource for you they should not inhibit your students from taking the discussion in a productive direction. Write out more discussion questions than you think you will need before class begins, but don’t treat your questions like a to do list. Review lesson-related material, even if you have already mastered content. Extemporaneous recall can breed trouble.It may help to convey your rationale for discussion, perhaps deepening not only their sense of why they are expected to engage in active learning but also their engagement with the course. The suggestions below can help you to facilitate good class discussions and improve your classroom climate, a piece of the Fearless Teaching Framework.ĭevote a moment to communicating the value of discussion to your students. While generally not conducive to covering large amounts of content, the interactive dynamic of discussion can help students learn and motivate them to complete homework and to prepare for class. Leading discussions in which students contribute meaningfully requires a great deal of instructor forethought and creativity. Whole-class discussions can encourage students to learn from one another and to articulate course content in their own words.