Teaching Tips

Tips for engaged discussions all semester.

August 2024

Do You Want to Improve Your Students' Engagement in Class Discussions? Talk about talking.

At the Constructive Dialogue Institute Aug. 14 training, we learned some tools for preparing students for discussing difficult topics, and these same tools prepare students for any discussion. Here are two of the tools we learned:

1. Prior to the first discussion day, set ground rules (or "norms") for how students should engage in discussion. It works best if you draft a set of rules and ask students for input: what is missing? What could be improved or clarified? This conversation engages students in talking about how they will talk in class.
2. When discussion breaks down, acknowledge the breakdown immediately. Signs you can look for:
   1. Notice if one or more students are prioritizing winning over dialogue
   2. Recognize when a few students talk too much or are too silent
   3. Recognize when a comment moves past the "sharing my perspective" into the "this is the correct position."
3. As soon as you recognize that discussion is breaking down, pause the class and talk about talking. Return to the guidelines and have the class process (first individually and then in groups) what exactly happened and what rule was broken.