b. The start of a discussion is often quite crucial and students stand to benefit from instruction and practice in getting off to strong starts that establish clearly the direction of the discussion. Typically a strong start would clearly establish the topic and direction of the discussion as well as make it easy for participants to join in. On the topic of smoking students could start with: "The discussion question today is whether we should ban smoking on campus. In your opinion do you think this would be a good idea?" After students have come up with their own answers, have them practice starting short discussions of only a couple of minutes in groups of three or four. Each member of the group should be given one chance to lead the discussion.