• Think about topics you want to cover and in what order; perhaps you'll follow the order of topics in the readings, or from most to least important, or in order of your personal interest.
• Consider using some brief demonstration, video clip, or other way to immediately engage the interest of the class.  Keep in mind though that the main focus of the discussion should be on the assigned readings.
• Write out a list of possible questions that can get discussion going if other students do not come with many questions.:
• Don't ask questions with obvious factual answers (e.g., "what year was this article written?").
• Ask interpretive questions (e.g., "what does the author mean here?") before evaluative questions (e.g., "is the author right about this?"). The class will have difficulty discussing the merits of a position they do not yet understand.
• Ask small questions (e.g., "what's the major argument for the author's conclusion?") before large, abstract questions (e.g., "how does this compare with what Author X said?").
• Finally, ask some subjective questions (e.g., "does this ring true in your own experience?" or "can anyone give a brief example of this from their own lives?").  Be careful that subjective experience does not become the major focus of discussion because our major purpose is to critically evaluate the material.
• Anticipate the responses to some of your questions.  Think about how you can help the class build on them or connect them in new ways to other material.
• Don't limit the discussion to questions for which you have the answers, but use the discussion as an opportunity to inquire jointly with other prepared students into questions you find interesting and important.
• Be familiar enough with the material that you could easily consult it for answers to questions that other students raise (e.g., "what did the author mean by X?").
• Think ahead about what you will do if nobody says anything (see below for Keeping the Discussion Going). Use your own experience in good and bad discussions as a guide. What tends to silence people and how can you avoid it? What kinds of questions are intimidating, off-putting, unanswerable, patronizing? What kinds invite good discussion?
• For some topics (and not necessarily those that seem "obvious), some class members will be especially troubled.  For example, a woman whose fiancé broke off their engagement is going to have a hard time objectively discussing scripts for dating and marriage.  Be sensitive to the possibility that someone in the class may have a hard time with the topic under discussion.

• Orient the class to the general topic and the readings.  For example: "For today, we read 2 articles about pornography, one of which supported the freedom of expression and one of which supported the freedom of women from sexual oppression."
• Give the class a preview of the specific areas you'd like to address during the discussion.  For example: "I'd like to spend a few minutes summarizing each article and clarifying what is meant by pornography.  Then we'll look more carefully at the arguments on each side of the issue.  Next we'll evaluate the authors' assumptions and the merits of their arguments.  Finally, we'll talk about our own conclusions on the issue."
• Ask the class for their questions or comments for each area you want to address.  For example "Let's turn next to the issues raised in the 2nd article. How did this author mean 'freedom of expression' compared to the first author?"

• Don't just stick to your pre-planned list of questions -- some of them will seem unimportant or irrelevant during the discussion, and others will come to your mind during the discussion (jot these down -- some will be worth asking and some won't).
• Give people time to think -- you've already thought a lot about your questions, but the rest of the class hasn't. Research shows that when teachers increase their wait time from one second (the average!) to three to five seconds, students give better and longer answers and failures to respond are less frequent.(1)
• Consider giving students a couple of minutes to write out their answers to your question; this not only gives them time to think, but makes students less hesitant to think out loud if there is something written down in front of them.  This technique is especially helpful for controversial questions and for shy/quiet people.
• One big barrier to effective discussions is agreement.  What's to discuss if everyone agrees?  Agreement is not our objective; our objective is intellectual growth through changed thinking (which is often rather uncomfortable -- we like to think that what we believe is right, and to change our beliefs means we were wrong -- and who likes being wrong?).
• Discussion should help students discern which of their beliefs are good and valid, which need some revising, which are unimportant and can be discarded, and which may need dramatic revision.
• Not everyone will be in the same place, and if everyone agrees then something is probably fishy  -- usually, the issue is framed at too superficial a level.  Try to ask a deeper or more specific question to raise some disagreement and discussion.
• Although conflict may be an aid to learning, it can fester and hurt relationships if left ignored.
• If the conflict stems from some factual disagreement, jointly discuss how to find the answer; if it stems from a value judgment, discuss what those underlying values are
• Writing evidence or arguments from all sides on the board helps to get things on the table where everyone can see them, helps avoid useless repetition, and helps people to listen to each other (instead of trying to keep everything in mind)
• Use follow-up questions to turn responses back to the class (instead of feeling that you have to have all the answers) or to move the discussion to a deeper level. For example:

• What do you think about that?
• Why do you say that?
• Can you be more specific?
• What else did you notice?
• That term means different things to different people. What do you mean by it?
• Can you illustrate the point you're making? I'm not sure I understand.
• Could you rephrase your question? I want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.
• How does that apply to ...?
• How does your answer relate to what Virgil said earlier?
• Sometimes "discussions" are nothing more than a question-and-answer dialog between the leader and one other participant. Increase involvement and interest with questions like these:
• Would someone else like to address Bob's question?
• What do the rest of you think?
• Bob, you look like you are very interested in what Sally just said. What are you thinking? {use this only if Bob really does look very interested}
• Jenny already identified an important assumption of this author. What  do you think might happen if someone made this kind of assumption in a situation where....?
• Give a mid-stream summary of where the discussion has gone (you could write this on the board) and using that as a new starting point. For example:
• So far, we've talked about X and most of us think that the author meant {this} and some of us thought the author meant {that}.  Let's assume for a minute that she really did mean {this}.  What might that mean then for people who are struggling with {infertility} or {a history of drug abuse} or ...?
• We've covered the basic arguments for each side of the debate. On the Pro side, we found arguments XY&Z; on the con side, we found counterarguments for X&Y and a new argument F.  Why do you think the con side ignored argument Z?

• Address the class, not the instructor.
• Help your peers when they are leading discussions.  Listen closely, speak voluntarily, follow up points of interest.  This not only helps discussions to be more enjoyable for all, but sets a good tone for the class when it is your turn to lead the discussion.
• Your instructor will not necessarily bail out a bad discussion. There is something to be learned by living with the consequences of poor preparation, trying to back out of a bad question, or dealing with a tired or unmotivated class. I will try not to intervene unless I think we have already taken the benefit of that instruction and are wasting time.
• Your instructor would love to participate in the discussions because the topics are so very interesting. However, I will try to refrain from saying much in order to give the discussion leader a chance to shape the discussion and to give participants a chance to participate. At the request of the discussion leader, I can be entirely quiet, play the role of a good student, or something in between (note however that I will not take over your role as discussion leader!).

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 1. Sadker, D., & Sadker, M. (1986). Questioning Skills. In J. M. Cooper (Ed.),  Classroom Teaching Skills. Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath and Company.