III. Typical Teaching Situations

Discussions and Discussion Sections

Karen Ryan teaching her University Seminar, "Russian Humor and Satire," in the Pavilion VIII garden.

Leading a discussion can be somewhat like directing actors who step out of character when the dialogue is sensitive, try to steal the show, experience stage fright, arrive late for productions, and sometimes neglect to read the script. Whereas only very experienced (or foolhardy) directors would attempt such a production on Broadway, discussion leaders (often TAs) can sometimes find themselves as jittery as actors on an opening night without a dress rehearsal. If you feel this way, don't despair; here are some ideas to help make your class a hit. This section offers suggestions for leading good discussions, with special attention to TA-led discussion sections.

Setting the Stage for Interaction

The most important aspect of stage setting is relationships, crucial because genuine dialogue demands that all participants feel comfortable with one another. While all instructors need to relate to their students, discussion leaders have a unique opportunity and a greater responsibility to form teacher-student relationships and encourage student-student relationships. When participants value, respect, and communicate with one another, they feel free to express partially formulated ideas and jointly create their own learning experience.

• Names are of utmost importance. Tell students immediately what you prefer to be called and something about yourself (see "The First Day of Class"). Encourage students to learn each others' names by devoting part of the first class to students' introducing each other, making name placards (use these for as long as you or the class needs them), or playing a name game in which students identify each other when you're stumped. Such procedures may seem laborious initially, but they pay off and students appreciate your effort to know them.
  
  
• Work with students' individual personalities. When students seem interested but never contribute, ask them privately how you can facilitate their participation. Some students would rather be called on than force their way into a conversation. On the other hand, you can ask students who contribute too much to hold their comments to give others a chance. If students are prone to posit hasty, poorly conceived conclusions, give them a chance to correct themselves before class ends. If students speak with biases, respectfully point out their implicit assumptions; or, better yet, make it a course goal that all students learn to recognize their own biases. To make this endeavor non-threatening, identify biases you bring to the material and invite students to "call you" on these, should they appear. To really know your students, spend a few minutes after class recording observed dynamics and interesting interchanges. These notes will also prove invaluable should you be asked to write a letter of recommendation (see "Writing Letters of Recommendation").
  
  
• Interesting props also help facilitate discussion. When appropriate, bring historical documents, photos, ethnic food and costume, a human brain, poll results, and so on. Your students may become more involved in the topic and will probably remember better.
  
  
• Last, but before the semester begins, be sure the physical stage is set for dialogue. When possible, request a room suited to the anticipated enrollment, with tables or chairs that can be arranged in a semi-circle. At the very least, everyone should be able to make eye contact with all other discussants.

Knowing Where You Are Going

Like good directors, skilled discussion leaders know what they want to accomplish. Before entering the classroom (and usually in conjunction with the course lecturer if you are a TA), determine the discussion goals. Purposes vary: you can clarify and supplement lecture material; students can learn and practice new skills, propose and critically evaluate positions, gain confidence in their analytical skills, and/or draw connections between course material and the outside world. Discussion sections are not normally used to convey large amounts of new information.
Purposes in mind, next decide how you will accomplish them through both course requirements and your teaching style. If you are a TA leading a section, you will probably share requirement decisions with the lecturing professor, although one of you might hold sole responsibility. Distribute the syllabus the first day, even if the lecturer has included discussion assignments on the lecture syllabus (see "Preparing a Course").
No one teaching style characterizes effective discussion leaders, but style does communicate implicit expectations about amount and type of student participation. If you are very directive, students may spend more time guessing your next point than contributing ideas. Conversely, if you are completely non-directive, anticipate days when important matters are never covered. Develop a style between these two extremes, closer to the one more congruent with your course goals. Choose your style before the first meeting, and define it in the first few weeks. Changing implicit expectations mid-semester is as frustrating as changing explicit requirements: for example, if you intend to call on students rather than wait for volunteers, you must do so from the first days of class.
Finally, whatever your teaching style, students need to leave with a few main points. At the end of class, with students' help, abstract main issues and their resolution. A class without a synopsis is like a play without the last scene. Similarly, running out of time and summarizing during the next class would be like a director stepping on stage before the last scene and saying, "Sorry, folks, we'll pick up tomorrow night where we left off.

I see teaching and research as complementary, even symbiotic. Reading recent scholarship prevents long-known concepts or texts from ever seeming stale and, more importantly, reminds me of the necessity to be open to new ideas and to see that a mind can change—as must lesson plans.

 —Candace Caraco, English

Asking Questions and Listening

Generally, you need to direct or frame the discussion to reach a predetermined goal. The type of orchestration you choose depends on your questioning skills and students' preparation, motivation, and participation (see also "Case Method").
If you opt for traditional questions (and you should try them), first ask about concrete facts and theories previously presented in lectures or readings and then progress to questions requiring more abstract thought. Abstract questions may involve comparisons between sources, critical analyses of logic or methodology, alternative explanations, real-world applications, or the separation of primary and secondary arguments. For example, when discussing Skinner's typology of behavior, you could develop a progression of questions something like the following:

(fact)                     "What is Skinner's main premise?"
(evidence)              "How does he support this theory?"
(comparison)          "In what ways are Skinner's ideas similar to Locke's?"
(application)           "How would the adoption of such a theory affect social policy?"

Avoid yes/no questions or questions with obvious, programmed answers; they bore students, and their responses do nothing to facilitate subsequent dialogue.

My personal teaching style is one of guiding students' natural curiosity and feeding it-not with answers, but with more questions. My greatest reward is the light in the eyes of the students who realize that they just found a way to answer their own questions.

 —Suzanne Guihard, Materials Science

Just as important as asking the right questions is the way you ask them-and the way you listen and respond to students' answers. Here are some tips:

• Treat all students with respect by considering their contributions thoughtfully.
  
  
• Expect valuable remarks from all students. Rather than reserving the more abstract questions for the more "insightful," give all students a chance at the lead. Students soon realize your intent and fulfill your expectations.
  
  
• Positively reinforce genuine attempts with verbal or facial expressions. When comments are slightly off the mark, rephrase elements that come close and give students a chance to agree or disagree. Of course, when comments are factually incorrect, you must acknowledge this in a polite and non-patronizing manner. When comments are particularly brilliant, give the other students time to recognize them as such. Then, as you summarize and draw the class to a close, recall noteworthy remarks and weave them into your synopsis, acknowledging the students who made them.
  
  
• Be sensitive to the different ways students use language, and vary your approach to accommodate all students. Men are more likely to prefer a devil's advocate approach; in fact, some men feel that an unchallenged comment must have been unworthy of attention. Some women are more likely to react negatively to a challenge, and women generally monitor their participation more. For example, a woman who has made several comments may refrain from additional involvement, not wanting to dominate the discussion (Tannen, 1991). Of course, some women enjoy a good debate, and some men fear it. The point is: using one approach all the time is likely to be effective with only some of your students. (See also the TRC handbook, Teaching a Diverse Student Body.)
  
  
• Learn to be comfortable with silence. When students don't have a ready answer, wait patiently (5-30 seconds depending on the complexity of the question) before embellishing, rephrasing, or changing your question. You show that you value students' learning more than their rapid guessing of your thoughts, and students prize this time to think. At home, practice posing a question and waiting to see how long half a minute of silence feels. At first, it will seem exceptionally long, but you will soon become accustomed to it. (By the way, if your students always have a ready answer, reevaluate the quality of your questions.)
  
  
• Encourage students to talk to each other, not through you, by holding your rejoinder until more than one student has spoken. If necessary, say, "Cathy, would you please respond to Grant's comment," or "What do you think about Grant's argument?" If Cathy still seems to be talking to you, orient her toward Grant with head and eye gestures. Such a directive may feel artificial at first, but students catch on quickly and conversation flows more realistically.
  
  
• Promote mutual respect among students by encouraging inclusive language and the acceptance of people in various racial, religious, gender, and cultural groups.
  
  
• If you have a good sense of humor, use it positively; it is possible to offend by comments you believe benign.
  
  
• Answer students' questions appropriately, and acknowledge when you don't know the answer. For details, see "Resolving Conflicts."

At the beginning of a class period, I pose questions in order to focus attention, gauge understanding, reiterate important themes and facts, or to set up the topic I want to discuss next. If we are formulating a problem, I ask individual students to offer a suggestion on what to do next.

—William Johnson, Materials Science

Increasing Participation

Innovative discussion techniques motivate students in different ways. We describe a few briefly here; for greater detail, see Frederick (1989) and Kraft (1990):

• Thinking time. Ask students to spend several minutes thinking about their answer and, perhaps, writing it down. Allowing thinking time emphasizes the importance of the question and gives all students a chance to gather their thoughts. As a result, students who otherwise are slow to participate jump early into the ensuing discussion. One variation on this activity, think-pair-share, encourages students to share and compare answers in small groups or pairs before discussing them as a whole class (for more information, see "Further Reading" on cooperative learning).
  
  
• Group work. Divide students into groups, asking them to develop an answer consensually. In smaller groups, more students can speak, shy students address less formidable audiences, students can build relationships, and a competitive group spirit assures lively discussion when the class reassembles. Vary the way you create groups: ask students to number off, select partners whom they do not know, pair with classmates wearing the same color clothing, and so on. As long as you give very clear instructions, you can assign many types of tasks to groups. Some favorites are:
  • Generating truth statements. Each group produces three statements known to be true about a particular issue; for example, "It is true about slavery that . . ." When students feel already well informed about an issue, this strategy helps you challenge their assumptions.
  • Determining the main point of the day's text. Students report on their consensus and invite response from other groups.
  • Finding quotes in the text that best illustrate the major premise. Students read these aloud and defend their selection.
    
    
• Concrete images. As each student briefly states a salient image, scene, event, or moment from the text, list them on the board and ask for the connection between them, the missing link, the emerging theme. With this approach, students participate in a sort of collective memory-making.
  
  
• Generating questions. Students formulate the primary questions raised by the text or lecture. Students might hand them in before class so that you can select some for discussion; or students can lead the discussion their questions provoke. Because this latter approach requires more class time, appoint only a few students to lead each discussion and start early in the semester so everyone has a chance. You also need to instruct students about leading discussions and limit time allotted to each question
  
  
• Thought papers. Students prepare short reactions to the week's readings or lectures. These can be the springboard for lively discussions.
  
  
• Role-playing. Students reenact a scene from a novel, plead their case before a "jury," or discuss "in character." Assign characters to volunteers or by placing placards at students' seats. Students need from several minutes to a week to study a character before performing
  
  
• Forced debate or position taking. Pose an "either/ or" question ("Were the British or the Americans responsible for Revolutionary War?") and force students to identify their position by sitting on the side of the room corresponding to that position. Ask students to change seats if they change their position. Alternatively, use the seating as a continuum.
  
  
• Visual scientific models. With a scientific phenomenon or conclusion on the board, students work backwards, generating several plausible causal chains.

When Nothing Seems to Work

Sometimes-even though you are prepared, have sought help from colleagues and/or the TRC, have tried traditional approaches, nontraditional approaches, and everything short of a literal song and dance-students 36 don't participate. (Was it a rainy Monday morning?) The best teachers have classes like this now and then. Realize that you can't force participation; but if participation is key to your course, you must uphold your stated requirements. (Note: If your discussion section doesn't count for a grade, it should; see "Working with TAs.")
Talk about the class with a friend or colleague to see if you can spot problems. For the next classes, prepare students for the assignment in a different way, or repeat a discussion-leading technique that worked in the past. Spend ten minutes eliciting students' comments: How effective do they find the discussions, and what improvements do they suggest? How well do they understand the readings? What do they think the goals of discussion sections are? (See "Analyzing and Improving Your Teaching").
In fact, most U.Va. students enjoy discussions with leaders excited about the subject matter and concerned about teaching them as individuals. Similarly, many instructors find leading discussions very rewarding. So, get out there and break a leg!

From the first day of class, I encourage my students to get out of their seats and move. They cannot just sit at their desks and attempt to learn passively-because passive learning will not empower them in the rest of their classes or in their lives more generally. While I believe that the subjects I teach are important, I know that teaching students how to learn is far more important.

—Kimberley Roberts, English