Leading Discussions in the Humanities & Social Sciences for TAs
This piece includes a lot of helpful strategies for facilitating discussions in humanities and social science discussion sections. It stands out from similar resources with its emphasis on planning, including a sample lesson plan for a discussion section, which can be particularly helpful for a new TA.
Principles of section planning
Before the course begins, identify the goals of the discussion section with the course instructor. Discuss with the instructors what the role of the discussion section is with respect to the lecture or other course components.
First, identify learning goals for each week’s discussion section, perhaps in coordination with any other course components (e.g., lecture, assignments). Then, design activities and discussions to help students reach those learning goals. You may also want to identify any administrative tasks that need to be addressed during the section.
For the first section, make sure to have everyone introduce themselves, and collectively set and agree to norms for the classroom with the students.
For all sections, it is helpful to incorporate a variety of activities to facilitate student participation and engagement. For discussion activities, formulate easier discussion questions and harder discussion questions aimed at the learning goals of the section. When planning a section, plan to split time between you doing things or talking and students doing things or talking, so that you do not dominate section time and students can be actively engaged.