What Works: Class Discussion
These are exercises that help students learn how to engage effectively in class discussion.
1. Round Robin.
At the beginning of class discussion, propose a question, or a prompt for response. Ask for
a volunteer to answer/respond first. The next student (to the left of the student who
responded first), responds to the first student and then adds something. The next student
(again, to the left) responds to the second student and adds something. And so on. This
exercise allows for lots of variation. You can be strict and allow students to respond only to
the previous response, or you can allow them to respond to earlier comments as well. This
seems to work best when students may not simply agree or disagree.
After you’ve gone around the room once, you can keep going for a second round, or you can
open up the conversation.
Objectives:
Encourage students to listen and respond to one another (rather than just focusing on the
professor).
Begin discussion with a variety of responses
Model effective class discussion for new students
2. Write and Pass
This is similar to the Round Robin, but it uses quick writing activities.
Begin discussion by proposing a question or prompt. Ask students to write legibly for 2-3
minutes. At the end of the writing time, ask the students to pass their paper to the left. Ask
them to write for 2-3 minutes, responding to the first student. Pass again, asking the
students to respond to the first two students. You can do this as many times as you like,
though 3 or 4 iterations seems to be enough.
At the end of the exercise, you can ask students to volunteer their own comments or to
share what someone else wrote. You can focus by asking what people found most
surprising/important/interesting in the comments, etc.
Objectives:
Provide students an opportunity to think about their own and others’ responses before
discussion
Model effective class discussion for new students
Provide a safe way for quiet students to engage in discussion: some students feel more
comfortable writing than speaking. And since everyone has piece of paper with responses
in front of them, it’s much easier to call on students without embarassing them.
Drawback: this exercise does not work well if you have students who have dysgraphia.