One challenge to a good class discussion is full participation. One solution is the “hot seat” discussion. Physically I have each team of 5 to 6 students arrange their desks into a horseshoe shape. One desk goes in the middle of the horseshoe facing the center of the room. This usually results in four to five groups facing the center of the room.

I set up this discussion two ways. In the first I keep one speaker in the hot seat throughout the discussion. Whenever team members have information or questions for the discussion they write them down and pass them to the team speaker. I collect the papers at the end of the discussion. Messages can also be passed with blog postings. This type of hot seat discussion works best with broad based questions that allow the discussion to move to a variety of topics.

Let’s say the discussion is about the general topic such as
 free speech. This discussion might go in a variety of directions. The designated speaker knows what information his/her group has on the topic but has not delved down into all aspects. When a backup member has specific information from the areas they have studied, it is time for that team member to pass this information on to the speaker. The backup members can also check the Internet when other teams provide information or arguments that are unfamiliar to the team.

Another discussion might look into specific free speech topics such as the freedom to demonstrate,  the freedom to expose classified information, or the freedom to espouse unpopular opinions. In such a discussion each group member can take turns in the hot seat as each topic comes up for discussion.

In either format it is easy for the teacher to determine both the depth of knowledge each team brings to the discussion and also the depth of knowledge each team member brings to the discussion.

When discussions become heated I like to take short breaks for team members to discuss the topic among themselves before returning to the general discussion. This a a great way to dissipate energy and to bring depth to the discussion.

Try out the “hot seat” method. It is effective and student responses have been very positive.