Establish ground rules for participation in a discussion. In order 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. They also need to recognize the importance of staying focused and expressing themselves clearly. You might spend the first session with your students exploring the characteristics of effective and ineffective discussions.
Clearly communicate how much time you have for questions or discussion, and what you are looking for from this time. Do you ideally expect every student to have a question? Are you looking for problem-posing, questions of clarification, extensions, applications, critique? Don't assume that students know what the pedagogical purpose of the discussion is.
Ask students to state their name before they begin speaking. Use their name when responding to their question or point.
Keep background noise to a minimum. One person speaking at a time is essential if all students are expected to listen.
Be ready and willing to work with sign interpreters or CART interpreters during question and discussion periods. Slow down when you are using big words or complicated phrases and spell out key names, and urge students to do the same. See this advice about working with interpreters during lectures.
Refer to questions you distributed. 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.
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 a partner activity. Ask students to come to the discussion with 3 or 4 questions prepared. Start the discussion by having students pair off and alternate asking and answering their questions.
