5. How do I manage a discussion section?

Even though discussion sections are usually less formal than large lecture classes, your role is key to students’ success. It is important that you take the time to prepare for discussion sections, get to know your students, and keep them engaged with the course material. Participating in a discussion can be an exciting and challenging way for students to develop skills to articulate their thoughts, to test their ideas in a public setting, and to evaluate the comments of others. Here are some tips for effectively planning and leading discussion sections.

Hear what students have to say about discussion TA’s.

Discussion Objectives

• Clarify Lecture Content
  Clarifying the lecture content is a major function of many discussion sections. The purpose of the session is to ensure that students have an accurate, complete, and unified view of the material covered during a lecture. A series of questions to focus and divide the discussion may also be prepared. When a discussion topic or question has been introduced, if, after a ten second pause, no one speaks up, rephrase the question or approach the subject from a different perspective.

• Complement Lecture Content
  To complement the lecture content you may design an activity to search for evidence that clarifies a concept. This encourages students to investigate complex ideas from a more personal vantage point.

• Clarify Reading Assignments
  To help students better comprehend reading assignments, ask them to write a summary and/or a few discussion questions. (Return to top)

Discussion Techniques
In general, it is useful to develop a questioning strategy for any discussion section. The following three-step strategy might be used:

1. Ask recall and comprehension questions to make sure that the students have grasped the basic data or concepts.
2. Ask questions requiring students to explain relationships among units of information and to form general concepts.
3. Ask questions that require students to apply principles and concepts they have developed to new data and different situations. (Return to top)

Building Rapport
Here are a few strategies for building rapport with the students in your class:

• Learn the students’ names. Nothing builds a better sense of affinity than addressing students by name.
• Arrive early and chat with the first students to arrive; stay late and chat with those who linger outside the classroom.
• Make lots of eye contact, be attentive, and make efforts to include all students.
• Ask students to come to your office hours at least once during the semester to encourage individual interaction.
• Create a safe environment for students to speak out and try new ideas.
• Encourage students whenever possible to present material or voice objections and counter-objections. Getting students actively involved is the major reason for having a discussion section.
• Don’t always require students to raise their hands before speaking. If they are seated in a circle, they will be able to see each other and are not likely to interrupt when someone else is speaking.
• If one student’s comments provoke a response from another student, allow both to clarify their positions briefly. However, try to prevent a monopoly of the discussion by one or two students; this can often alienate and silence others.
• Show respect for all student questions or responses.
• Don’t lapse into lecture. (Return to top)

Encouraging Individual Student Participation
Here are some basic hints to encourage student participation in discussion:

• Introduce the topic and its importance briefly, including sub-areas to be covered.
• Give simple ground rules; for example, each student should speak up without being called upon, and students should address each other.
• Start with prepared questions that are short, stimulating, and easy to answer (“Can you think of a situation in which this notion might apply/not apply?” “What are your immediate reactions?” “Does anything in this passage disturb you?” “How many of you feel that is true/false?”)
• Wait ten to twenty seconds before rephrasing your question.
• Avoid talking too much yourself; allow students to develop their own ideas and respond to each other.
• Summarize what has been said periodically and then redirect the group to the next topic sub-area with new questions.
• Be tolerant of opposing points of view. Instead of making evaluative comments, ask examining questions. (“Do you think Thoreau feels that some people are more valuable than others?” “Do you think he is correct to make this assumption?” “What evidence does he have?”)
• Listen carefully and ask impromptu probing questions, examine students’ views carefully, cite evidence for views, examine assumptions and raise the abstraction level. (“What reasons did you have for using that procedure?”)
• Give the class a feeling of accomplishment by suggesting that it was a fruitful exchange of important ideas.
• Praise the students in strong, positive ways (“Excellent answer”); if a response is long, find some part of it that deserves praise.
• Make comments pertinent to the specific student response, demonstrating that you listen carefully to student’s ideas (“As Pat pointed out, Iceland’s national political status . . . . ”).
• Build on a student’s response and refer to the student explicitly by name. (“Does anyone have a comment on John’s response?”) (Return to top)

Cooperative Learning
The benefits of using cooperative learning include increased student participation, student-led discussions, and activity-based learning. It requires the use of a structure or procedure for students to interact with the information and each other. Many cooperative learning structures are applicable to a wide variety of content areas. While students learn how to operate in cooperative learning environments, familiar or introductory material is preferred. Once the structure is familiar, they can tackle challenging material. In addition to exams, projects may be used to assess cooperative learning assignments. (Return to top)

Strategies for Facilitating Group Participation
Here are some hints for encouraging participation in groups:

• Small groups are almost always more effective in generating participation than large ones.
• Make sure someone in the group assumes the initiator role and someone else takes on the task of presenting the group’s findings to the rest of the class at the end of the session.
• Make sure the group(s) know exactly what their task is.
• A class can be divided in two camps, one pro and one con, with the undecided free to contribute at any time.
• Working in pairs may facilitate participation.
• Have students nominate topics for discussion.
• Move around from group to group, offering guidance and asking and answering questions where appropriate.
• Ask students in advance to summarize the readings or tell all the students to be prepared to summarize the material.
• Announce if you intend to call on students at random.
• Selected students can be given special assignments.
• Specific tasks or questions can be assigned ahead of time.
• Distribute handouts or use other visual aids (slides, charts, blackboard, graphs, etc.) as points of departure. Be aware, however, that visual aids can be distracting and may actually hinder, instead of facilitating, discussions.
• Disputes may be used to form the basis for a special assignment.
• Brainstorming or simulation models are often motivating approaches. (Return to top)