Collection

Cultivating Engaging Discussions

Discussions are a staple of interactive teaching, but they require careful planning and intentionality to support learning. Explore how to set discussion goals, develop questions that inspire energetic conversation, and show students how to contribute productively to class discussions.

Instructional Practices

Updated December 2024

Good discussions involve taking risks, by the students and the professor. This comprehensive guide is filled with tips to help improve yours.

Adriana Streifer

This advice guide describes research on what makes discussions effective, provides strategies for keeping discussions on track, and suggests ways to avoid common pitfalls such as having a small number of students dominate a conversation.

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How to Hold a Better Class Discussion

Chronicle of Higher Education

Faculty members often assume [discussion] is a matter of serendipity. The reality is that effective class discussions — much like effective lectures — are the result of careful planning. Students must do their part by coming to class ready to participate. But there are ways to increase the likelihood that they will be prepared, and to avoid the frustration of a sea of impassive faces. Who is this guide for? Whether you are a new faculty member or a teaching veteran, if you’re looking for advice on how to hold a better class discussion, you’ll find it here in The Chronicle’s guide. You’ll learn how to structure your course and particular class sessions in ways that will get students actively participating — and will enhance their learning.

www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-hold-a-better-class-discussion/

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This manual collects some of the best techniques to start discussions, give them momentum, and keep them on track. If you're new to leading discussions and unsure how to proceed, or if you're an experienced discussion leader looking for ways to energize your classroom, this book is a wonderful resource.

Adriana Streifer

I value this book for encouraging authenticity and democratic, deliberative processes in group discussions. I appreciate that the book is so easy to use: it organizes techniques according to their function, such as "techniques for building group cohesion" and "techniques to foster active listening."

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The Discussion Book: 50 Great Ways to Get People Talking

Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill

Do you need a resource that you can pull out of your pocket to liven up meetings, trainings, professional development, and teaching? The fifty easily applied techniques in this timely manual spur creativity, stimulate energy, keep groups focused, and increase participation. Whether you're teaching classes, facilitating employee training, leading organizational or community meetings, furthering staff and professional development, guiding town halls, or working with congregations, The Discussion Book is your go-to guide for improving any group process.

Each of the concrete techniques and exercises is clearly described with guidance on selection and implementation, as well as advice on which pitfalls to avoid. All of the techniques:

Offer new ways to engage people and energize groups
Get employees, students, colleagues, constituents, and community members to participate more fully in deliberative decision-making
Encourage creativity and openness to new perspectives Increase collaboration and build cohesive teams
Keep groups focused on important topics and hard-to-address issues

Derived from the authors' decades of experience using these exercises with schools, colleges, corporations, the military, social movements, health care organizations, prisons, unions, non-profits, and elsewhere, The Discussion Book will help you guide discussions that matter.

ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy1.library.virginia.edu/lib/uva/detail.action

Access Outside UVA: www.wiley.com/en-es/The+Discussion+Book%3A+50+Great+Ways+to+Get+People+Talking-p-9781119049715

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In these videos from Harvard's "Instructional Moves" collection, faculty describe their goals for discussion, and you'll see how they implement their discussion practices. You'll also hear from students who describe the impact of their professors' discussion techniques on their learning.

Adriana Streifer

This collection of videos is great for those who want to hear directly from faculty and students about their experiences leading and participating in discussion. The website helpfully organizes the videos into three categories so that viewers can more easily find the topics that are relevant to them: "framing the discussion," "balancing and pacing," and "responding to students".

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Instructional Moves: Facilitating Discussions

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Powerful class discussions may seem natural, even spontaneous, but they are typically the result of careful planning, clear intentions, and concrete strategies. From the physical layout of a classroom to the skillful wording of that genuinely provocative question, pedagogic considerations abound. Although facilitators’ styles can range from subtle to direct, effective instructors tend to strike a balance between organic conversation and focused discourse. Facilitating Discussions videos are organized into three submodules: Framing the Discussion, Balancing and Pacing, and Responding to Students. Classroom footage, student testimonials, and interviews with featured faculty present a range of moves designed to lead more thought-provoking, equitable, structured, student-centered discussions.

instructionalmoves.gse.harvard.edu/facilitating-discussions

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This video demonstrates a discussion technique called a fishbowl, and there's also an additional video for how to adapt the activity for online teaching.

Adriana Streifer

If you're looking for a way to engage all students in discussion, and prevent students from dominating the conversation or not talking at all, this structured fishbowl activity might be right for you. A fishbowl gets all students involved in discussion by assigning them roles and encourages students to focus on the process of effective discussions as well as the content.

kpcrossacademy.ua.edu/techniques/fishbowl/

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This webpage will help you consider not only HOW to lead discussion, but also WHY to have discussions. You'll think through the goals of discussion, and turn your attention to the groundwork required to set up an environment in which productive discussions can occur.

Adriana Streifer

I love this resource because it draws one's attention to the work required to cultivate a welcoming, supportive class environment - an environment in which meaningful discussions can occur. Its table of "Question types and purposes" is a great tool for intentionally preparing discussion questions that align with one's goals as an instructor and with specific types of thinking (for example, questions that promote recall, or questions that promote application).

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Learning Through Discussion

Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning

Discussions can be meaningful and engaging learning experiences: dynamic, eye-opening, and generative. However, like any class activity, they require planning and preparation. Without that, discussion challenges can arise in the form of unequal participation, unclear learning outcomes, or low engagement. This resource presents key considerations in class discussions and offers strategies for how instructors can prepare and engage in effective classroom discussions.

ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/learning-through-discussion/

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