Intuition Issue 28 Summer 2017 intuition-_issue_28_summer-2017 | Seite 31

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS METHOD?
Almost all students will participate: students
think, “the teacher might choose me so I’d better
have something to say that my group agrees
with”. While students don’t mind disappointing
their teacher with a bad answer, they don’t like
disappointing their peers in front of the class.
So nearly all students try to be clear on what
their group thinks and why. As a result, group
work is more focused than usual. If not, you
can deliberately choose those students
who are not participating to give their
group’s answer.
You get a representative impression of your
class’s understanding. As I’ve mentioned, this
feedback on students’ understanding is in real time,
so you can get rid of misconceptions while you
are teaching the topic. You don’t have to wait until
assignments, homework or tests show up problems.
You’ve fixed them long before. It models how to
learn and think in your subject. How do you test
ideas to see if they make sense in your subject?
When a student learns, they create their own
meanings, and then must test these during
the learning process. Discussions in assertive
questioning encourage them to go through this
process, so they learn how to think as if they
are in their chosen profession.
GROUND RULES
Ask the question
clear and concise wording
Monitor the
reasoning
Check for
completion
Get some answers
The class
interrogates
the answers
Teacher confirms the
correct answer
It greatly helps discussions if you agree ground
rules with your class. Here is an example you
could adapt:
We will learn best if we all work towards a
‘blame-free’ classroom:
• It’s OK if you don’t fully understand a concept first
time – learning takes time.
• What counts is whether you understand eventually,
not whether you get it right first time.
• I ask challenging questions, so it is not humiliating
to make a mistake. Making mistakes is part of
how we learn.
• Mistakes are useful because they tell us where
we can improve.
• If you make a mistake, bet your life others in the
class have made it too.
• It’s good for learning to say, “I don’t understand”
and to ask for clarification.
must require the
student to reason
Reinforcement:
thanks and praise
don’t give the answer away
until the last stage (below)
use proximity
“Does anyone need
more time?”
“Hands up if you don’t
have an answer”
Not just volunteers... be
unpredictable about who
you ask
Students’ understanding is checked and
corrected by peers: errors and omissions in
students’ learning will become apparent to their
peers during group discussions, and they will
correct each other, at least to some degree.
Assertive questioning
“Do you agree?.. Why?”
“Can this answer be
improved”
Only now is the answer
given by the teacher
“Who else got the correct
answer?...”
“...well done!!”
• You should never ridicule another student for their
mistakes, because you wouldn’t like it and it stops
us learning.
• You will only learn from mistakes if you find out
how to do it without mistakes next time, and really
understand this.
• Let’s help each other! The helper learns at least
as much as the helped.
Such ground rules are best established early on by
asking students for their class ground rules ideas.
INTUITION ISSUE 28 • SUMMER 2017 31