No matter which methods you choose to employ, you will need to plan relevant examples, illustrations, and activities that demonstrate your main points. You’ll want students to make connections between the new material and their prior knowledge—knowledge already learned in the course as well as from their personal experiences—so the best examples will take that prior knowledge into account. A fair amount of brainstorming may have to occur before you will find those details that will best illustrate a concept or idea for a particular group of students.

This is also the time to plan what the students will be doing in class. Do students need to describe individually their understanding of a few fundamental concepts, or are they ready to tackle a challenging problem in small groups? Do they need to debate a controversial bill so as to better understand their own and others’ preferences and prejudices, or are they ready to discuss more objectively the legal precedents and policy implications? Do they need to observe and respond to a controlled demonstration, or are they ready to begin designing their own related experiments? Whether taking notes, posing questions, making arguments, or planning projects, students need to be engaged at a level appropriate to their background and the session goals.