My ninth grade students enjoy doing labs. But afterward, most do not participate in the debriefing. How can I improve this? —A., Washington

You could try an alternative to teacher-led discussions. Here’s one that worked with my students.

Instead of you asking questions, assign one team of students to present their results to the class in a panel format. Before the activity, choose one team to present. You could assign members’ roles ensuring participation: Person 1 – Introduce the team and present the question, problem, or hypothesis. Person 2 – Summarize the procedure. Person 3 – Provide a display and description of the data, observations, or results, incorporating classroom technology. Person 1 (again) – Relate the results back to the question or hypothesis. Person 4 – Note any questions the team had, how the investigation could or should be done differently, and take questions from the audience.

Give the team time at the end of the activity or at the beginning of the next class to prepare. Rotate roles so the students are doing different components of the report the next time they present.

At first, you may have to model how to summarize and how to make an effective presentation (my students enjoyed it when I modeled an ineffective one, too). You may have to model how to contribute as a respectful audience member and suggest types of questions and discussion prompts: Compare their results to yours. How are they similar? Different? And as a member of the audience, you get to ask questions, too.

This may take more time, but students also get the opportunity to be presenters.