Database of Formative Assessments

A class discussion may be structured in a number of ways, but the goal is the same.  The teacher wants to get the students talking about the content so they can see who is understanding the material and who isn't.  Students who are struggling are encouraged to ask questions for clarification, and the teacher should prompt the rest of the class to come up with the answer/explanation.  The students who already understand the material can be the ones "re-teaching" the content.

A class discussion might occur as a form of Bell-Work.  The students can be prompted to think about what was covered during the previous lesson, and then after a brief period of wait-time the teacher can begin the class discussion by asking some guiding questions.

The teacher will be able to identify if there are any gaps in understanding while the students begin answering the teacher's questions and discussing the material.  The teacher could also use the discussion to extend the learning by asking why that information is useful, or having the students relate the content to a real-life scenario.

Teachers can provide feedback directly to the class, and clarify any misunderstandings as they arise.  Teachers can use this feedback to identify if the class needs some re-teaching, or if specific groups of students might need some extra practice.

Students can give each other feedback based on the types of questions and answers that come up during the discussion.  A great way to include the high ability students is to have them to do the clarifying rather than the teacher when a question/problem comes up during the discussion.

Discussions are generally not a graded activity, but do help the teacher understand how well the class is understanding the content.  

While the discussion is taking place the students will realize if they are understanding the material or not.  As the discussion progresses the student might realize that they know the basic ideas fairly well, but can't quite connect the content to a real-life application.

Traditional class discussions don't require technology, but a discussion may be prompted outside of standard class hours.  A teacher could use a Moodle forum, Google questions, or VoiceThread.