• Even if your students have little formal background in a topic, a discussion can be a good start for a unit. This is because you will learn whether your students have opinions, and what those opinions are. If you are teaching consistent with constructivist learning theory, you need to know what students are thinking before you begin the unit, so that you know where you need to target your teaching.
• Further, a discussion from a point of ignorance can get students interested in the topic. They will have expressed their opinion on the topic, and will more actively search for information to support their opinion. Thus, a discussion can be a good motivator at the beginning of a unit.
• A discussion in the middle of a unit can be a way to assess student understanding of the topic. Who participated? What did those students say? Did their comments express understanding of the topic? What concepts need to be re-taught or addressed in a different way to ensure students construct the appropriate information?
• Another reason for having students get involved in a discussion is that students remember information that came out in a discussion. They are much more likely to remember than if they watched a video of “informed” people having a discussion, and much more likely to remember than if they had just read the information.

Why would you not have students discuss:

• People (not just students ­ we find this with scientists as well) who state their opinions in a public space are less likely to change their opinions later. If you want your students to come up with a particular idea, a particular opinion, then you are better not to start with a discussion. After all, according to constructivist learning theory, learning means changing. And, also according to constructivist learning theory, changing is hard ­ emotionally and psychologically.

How to teach using discussions:

• Select a question which is focused enough that students can make a start to answer it. The question should be an upper level kind of question (Bloom’s taxonomy), and should be divergent ­ have more than one answer possible.
• Create an atmosphere (by modeling, by teaching, by enforcing) which is friendly, where different opinions are expected, but respectfully presented. This takes time.
• Students are more likely to engage in discussion when they have some background in the topic.
• Have regular discussions so students learn how to get involved.
• Be clear about the rules for involvement. How does a new person get to speak? You might suggest that a new speaker should start to interrupt, then back off; the person who is speaking should then wind up what s/he is saying, so the interrupted can talk. At faculty meetings, we raise our hands, and the chair of the meeting takes us in turn. Some discussions involve passing the feather, and the person holding the feather may talk. Some discussions involve the next speaker standing up, and staying up until s/he has finished speaking.
• Ensure that your students have sufficient background knowledge on the topic to get involved.
• Be the moderator of the first few discussions as your students learn proper protocol. Then teach your students how to moderate a discussion, and have different students take turns being moderators.
• Decide on what your role will be. Are you going to get involved? To what degree? If you decide to be involved as much as the students, play by the same rules. Do not dominate!
• Invite students to get involved. In the first discussion, I make a cross, then an X so that I am getting students from different geographical locations in the classroom. I also invite students of different genders and cultural groups. Students who are invited to speak might not speak when they are first invited, but they are much more likely to get involved later.
• If you notice that girls are talking and no boys are, invite your most outspoken boy to get involved. If he declines, tell him you will come back in a few minutes and ask him the same question. If you notice that no aboriginal students are involved, assess the situation just as you did above. Choose your most outspoken aboriginal student and invite that person. A better method is to have the students work in small groups first, and have each group prepare an answer / opinion to the discussion question, and the group should delegate one of their members to present. If you break your groups up into gender or cultural groups, you will have students of different genders and cultures speaking.

To summarize or assess student learning:

• On topical issues, I sometimes have students write a letter to the editor, giving their opinion, then justifying it
• If you have had the discussion at the beginning of the unit, you could have students list some topics they need more information on to make a proper decision. Then you can set up lessons or assignments incorporating their suggestions.
• You could have two or three students summarize the discussion results, each one summarizing a different point of view. Ideally, you would assign a student who had expressed a different point of view during the discussion!
• Choose your own debrief of the discussion. Just remember, the debrief is very important. .