Facilitating Effective Discussions

"Initiating and sustaining a lively, productive discussion are among the most challenging activities for an instructor" (Davis, 1993). Here are some strategies that will help you prepare for and lead an effective discussion.

Preparing for a discussion

  • Plan how you will conduct the discussion. Although the ideal discussion is spontaneous and unpredictable, you will want to do some careful planning. You should have a clear goal/objective for the discussion, a plan for how you will prepare the students, and a general idea about how you will guide the discussion (e.g., with activities, videos, questions, etc.).
  • Remember that there are many ways to be "present" and to "participate."  Re-evaluate your course participation and attendance policies to be certain that they are assessing what you want them to assess, encouraging what you want to encourage, and that there aren't other options that can accomplish the same goals.  For instance, if you value the exchange of ideas, does it matter whether this happens in class or online?  
  • Help students prepare for the discussion. You can distribute a list of questions for each discussion, ask students to bring in their own questions, suggest key concepts or themes for them to focus on, or ask them to collect evidence that clarifies or refutes a particular concept or problem. Discussions will be more satisfying for you and your students if they are prepared.
  • Establish ground rules for participation in a discussion. For a discussion to be effective, students need to understand the value of actively listening to their peers, tolerating opposing viewpoints, and being open-minded. You might spend the first session with your students exploring the characteristics of effective and ineffective discussions. For example, only one person speaks at a time, state their name before responding, how much time they will have, and what you are looking for in their participation. 

Starting a discussion

There are many ways to start a discussion. Depending on how students prepare for the discussion you might want to begin by:

  • Referring to preparation materials. Start the discussion by asking one of the study questions you assigned or by asking group members which of the questions they found most challenging.
  • Have students make a list of key points. Identify and list the important points from the reading and use these as a starting point for discussion.

Use an active learning activity. Use an active learning strategy to engage learners with the reading. Some of these activities might include a jigsaw, brainstorm, partner activity, think-pair-share, or organize an informal debate on a controversial issue. For more activity ideas, please refer to the Active Learning Activities tip sheet, Group work in the classroom: Types of Small Groups  tip sheet, and/or the 226 Active Learning Techniques for more ideas.

  • Pose an opening question. The process of writing down their answers will enable students to generate new ideas as well as questions. After they have finished writing, ask for volunteers or call on students to share their ideas. For more information on question strategies please refer to CTE’s teaching tip.

Encouraging student participation

  • Create an inclusive discussion environment. Group members will be more likely to contribute to a discussion if they feel they are in a safe, comfortable environment. Here are some general strategies for achieving this:
    • at the beginning of term, use an icebreaker activity and ask students to introduce themselves and describe their interests and backgrounds so they can get to know one another;
    • as the facilitator, you should also learn all of your students' names (using name cards may assist you and your students in accomplishing this task);
    • arrange the seating in the room, if possible, into a semicircle so that the group members can see each other.

See the teaching tip on Classroom Management: Creating an Inclusive Environment for more ideas on this issue.

  • Allow students to ask questions or share ideas in class anonymously or without "speaking out" — circulate note cards for students to write questions or comments, or to answer your questions, perhaps anonymously, and collect and address them. You can also encourage students to ask questions in the learning management system, which you can then respond to either in class or online.
  • Facilitate smaller discussions or activities among students before you ask students to share with the entire class. Many students need some time and space to try ideas out with one another first.  This also gets many more students talking. For example, to help them prepare for discussion, give them the opportunity to write or solve problems quietly for a few minutes. You might even consider asking students to pass these ideas around the room to share with one another, as long as you have informed them in advance that you will do so.
  • Positively reinforce student contributions. You can emphasize the value of student responses by restating their comments, writing their ideas on the board, and/or making connections between their comments and the discussion at large. Also be sure to maintain eye contact and use non-verbal gestures such as smiling and nodding to indicate your attention and interest in students' responses.
  • Silence in the classroom is okay – it is actually good – and if you become comfortable with it, students will too.
  • Limit your own involvement. Avoid the temptation to talk too much and/or respond to every student's contribution. After you ask students a question, count to at least five in your head before answering it yourself. When you ask students a question, if you really want them to think and be able to give an answer, be willing to wait for it. Try to encourage students to develop their own ideas and to respond to one another (that is, peer interaction). You might also sit someplace other than the "head" of the table.
  • Balance students' voices during the discussion. Here are some strategies for dealing with problem group members who can affect the level of student participation:
    • Manage students who monopolize the discussion by implementing a structured activity that requires each group member to be involved, assigning a specific role to the dominant student that supplants verbal participation (e.g., a discussion recorder), or implementing time limits on individual contributions.
    • Implement a token system to support distribution of speaking time amongst your students. Each time a student speaks, they spend a token (this can be anything from rubber ducks to pom poms). The tokens can be coded to the type of contribution a student makes. For example, are they providing a new contribution or are they responding to another contribution. The goal is for students to spend all their tokens by the end of the session.
    • Draw quiet students into the discussion by posing non-threatening questions that don't require a detailed or correct response, assigning a small specific task to the student (e.g., obtaining information for next class), sitting next to him/her, or positively reinforcing contributions he/she does make.
    • Clarify confusing student contributions by asking the student to rephrase/explain the comment, paraphrasing the comment if you can interpret it, asking the student probing questions, or encouraging him/her to use concrete examples and metaphors.

Guiding the discussion

  • Keep the discussion focused. Have a clear agenda for the discussion and list questions/issues on the board to inform and remind everyone of where the discussion is heading. Brief interim summaries are also helpful as long as they don't interfere with the flow of the discussion. If the discussion gets off track, stop and bring the discussion back to the key issues.
  • Repeat the key point of all comments or questions for the rest of the class, using your microphone if possible. For instance: "Jennifer just asked..." 
  • Take notes. Be sure to jot down key points that emerge from the discussion and use these for summarizing the session. You might also assign a different group member each week the specific role of recording and summarizing the progression of the discussion.
  • Be alert for signs that the discussion is deteriorating. Indications that the discussion is breaking down include: subgroups engaging in private conversations, members not listening to each other and trying to force their ideas, excessive "nit-picking," arguing, and lack of participation. Changing the pace by introducing a new activity or question can jump-start the discussion. In the case of an argument, remind students of the ground rules and use a calm remark to bring the discussion back on track.
  • If students are having trouble communicating, avoid making remarks such as: “Slow down,” “Take a breath,” or “Relax.” This will not be helpful and may be interpreted as demeaning.  Avoid finishing the person’s sentences, or guessing what is being said. This can increase their feelings of self-consciousness.
  • Bring closure to the discussion. Announce that the discussion is ending and ask the group if there are any final comments or questions before you pull the ideas together. Your closing remarks should show the students how the discussion progressed, emphasizing 2-3 key points, acknowledging insightful comments, and tying the ideas into the overall theme of the discussion. Providing closure to the discussion is critical for ensuring that group members leave feeling satisfied that they accomplished something.
  • Remember that not all students are comfortable with extended direct eye contact. 

Evaluating the discussion

  • Ask students to respond to specific questions about the discussion or write a one-minute paper. Was the topic defined effectively? Did the facilitator keep the discussion on track? Did everyone have the opportunity to speak? Was your participation invited and encouraged? What questions related to the discussion remain unanswered? In what ways could the discussion have been improved? You might also use a more formal questionnaire and have students rate these various aspects of the discussion. Please refer to Low Stakes Writing Assessments for more ideas on how to engage your students.
  • Conduct your own informal evaluation of the discussion. Consider the following questions when making your evaluation: Did everyone contribute to the discussion? How much was I, as the facilitator, involved? Did the discussion stay focused? What questions worked especially well? How satisfied did the group seem about the productiveness of the discussion? What would I do differently next time?
  • Use online resources and content management systems to extend class discussions. Students won't all get the chance to contribute during a large lecture, so offer the opportunity somewhere else. Students should be given many different opportunities and spaces in which to participate (and to be graded for participation).

Suggested reading

Support

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the CTE Support page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

This Creative Commons license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Facilitating Effective Discussions. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.

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