During tonight’s #scichat, a side conversation emerged about facilitating whole class and small group discussion.  A variety of protocols can be used to help this.

@cookp provided a link to a useful facilitation guide for POGIL activities, but it can be used in a variety of situations.

Here are a bunch of useful discussion protocols:

1. Protocols Part 1

2. Protocols Part 2

3. Protocols Part 3

4. Protocols Part 4

5. groups reporting out

I got the following list of “discussion moves” from a colleague.  He gives copies to his students and expects them (and explicitly asks them) to use these moves during class discussions.

Conversational Moves for Questioning, Listening, & Responding.

  1. Ask a question or make comment that shows you are interested in what another person has said.
  2. Ask a question or make a comment that encourages someone else to elaborate on something that person has said.
  3. Make a comment that underscores the link between two people’s contributions. Make this link explicit in your comment.
  4. Make a comment indicating that you found another person’s ideas interesting or useful. Be specific as to why this was the case.
  5. Contribute to something that builds on or springs from what someone else has said. Be explicit about the ways you are building on the other person’s thoughts.
  6. Make a comment that at least partly paraphrases a point someone has already made.
  7. Make a summary observation that takes into account several people’s contributions and that touches on a recurring theme in discussion.
  8. Ask a cause-and-effect question – for example, “Can you explain why you think it’s true that if these things are in place, such and such a thing will occur?”
  9. At an appropriate moment, as the group for a minute of silence to show the pace of the conversation and give you and others time to think.
  10. Find a way to express appreciation for the enlightenment you have gained from the discussion. Try to be specific about what it was that helped you understand something better.
  11. Disagree with someone in a respectful and constructive way.

Brookfield, S.D. & Preskill, S. Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms. (2nd ed). Sand Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2005.