WHAT DO STUDENTS KNOW? ENGINEERING EFFECTIVE DISCUSSION THAT ELICITS EVIDENCE OF LEARNING AND CREATES A CHALLENGE MAKE LEARNING VISIBLE

VISIBLE LEARNING: EFFECTIVE METHODS Let’s see what HATTIE thinks? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pD1DFTNQf4

WHY IS FINDING OUT WHAT THEY KNOW IMPORTANT? “ TO TEACH WELL WE HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT STUDENTS ALREADY KNOW. BUT STUDENTS DO NOT ALWAYS LEARN WHAT WE TEACH THEM. THAT’S WHY FINDING OUT WHAT STUDENTS DO KNOW IS ESSENTIAL TO GOOD TEACHING” (DYLAN WILIAM -2015)

USING QUESTIONS TO PROMOTE THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSION “ LIKE A FINE TAPESTRY, A PRODUCTIVE CLASSROOM DISCUSSION DOES NOT JUST HAPPEN; IT RESULTS FROM PLANNING AND SKILLED CRAFTSMANSHIP. IN THE CASE OF DISCUSSION, IT IS A TEACHER’S AND STUDENT’S SKILLS IN QUALITY QUESTIONING THAT UNDERPIN THE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME.” (WALSH & SATTES 2015)

Or we end up with…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKaUL2mtAqA

QUESTION TYPES Effective questions are meaningful and understandable to students. Closed-ended questions such as those requiring a Yes/No response, or one answer from a few possible options (multiple choice) may be useful for quickly checking comprehension. Open-ended questions that probe and elicit expanded, Higher Order thinking and processing of information are useful for involving students in deeper learning. Convergent questions have one acceptable right answer; students are required to regurgitate a certain response based on conventional wisdom. Divergent questions have multiple possible answers and encourage students to be creative or express insight. If working in groups, students have the opportunity to learn from a variety of perspectives.

Questions are ineffective if…. Too vague. Students are unsure of what is being asked and may refrain from attempting to answer. Too loaded. Students may guess at what you want them to say rather than tell you what they think. "Does everyone understand?" "Any other questions?" Most students will not reply and even if they do, their answer is only a report of their own assessment of their comprehension. Yes/No questions or other closed-ended questions can be useful for drawing on previous knowledge to get started on a new topic, but are dead ends for discussions and deeper engagement.

THE QUESTION FILTER What is the learning intention for the unit/activity? Determine the key concept you want students to learn which is related to the learning intention. Refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy to review levels of learning. Does this question draw out and work with pre-existing understandings that students bring with them? Does this question raise the visibility of the key concepts the students are learning? Will this question stimulate peer discussion? Is it clear what the question is about?

When Developing Questions try this: PLAN BEFORE CLASS: Explanation question that asks students to explain the cause of an event or why a given situation or condition has arisen. These usually begin with "Why" (open-ended question). Analytical question that asks students to compare and contrast situations, cases, ideas, people, or objects. Explaining how to do something question. In this case, make sure it is something that has been covered in class that lesson. A final questioning strategy that reinforces critical thinking asks students to focus on the future and use their reasoning to predict something or apply to another context.

The QUESTION Shell In any classroom, the questions you ask affect the level of thinking. You can improve the questions you ask, and the students can also be taught to ask questions. There is a significant body of research that shows one hour students spend devising questions about what they have been learning ‘with correct solutions’ is more effective than one hour spent completing practice tests. Unless you give some guidance, when you ask students to generate questions on their own, they tend to pose factual questions. WE can train them to ask better questions by providing them with a set of thought-provoking questions – “shells”.

The Shell How are….and ....different? Compare…..and ...in terms of.... What are the strengths and weaknesses of…...? How are…..and.....similar? What is the difference between…...and.......? How would you explain….to a student in the .......grade? Explain why….. What are the implications of…...for.......? What would happen if…....... How does….....affect...........? Why is…...an example of.......? What is the strongest argument against…...?

HOW IS QUESTIONING ENGINEERED IN THE CLASSROOM?

To Elicit Feedback…… To Stimulate Examples Questions to clarify and better understand the substance of a topic or text What do you mean when you say? Say that in a different way for me. Give me an example. To clarify the thinking or reasoning behind an argument. I hadn’t thought of it in this way. Can you tell me what led you to this argument? Conclusion? Would this always be true? What might change the outcome? Ask questions to prompt curiosity How can we find more information? What effect would that have? What might have caused this? Encouraging divergent thinking. The ‘What if’ question. What might be an alternative way of thinking? What if…? Imagine.....how might this affect our thinking.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS SCRIPT? The universal script? The teacher asks a question. Some students raise their hands. The teacher may prompt for more hands. The teacher selects one of the students with his or her hand raised. And the student responds to the question. 9/10 the student has got it right. The teacher moves on. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS SCRIPT?

WELL…... If the aim of questioning is to help the teacher find out what the students’ know, it makes little sense to select a respondent from the volunteers. WHY? Generally students raise their hands only when they are confident they have the correct answer!

A suggestion…No hands up except to ask a question Teachers should select the student or students to respond, ideally at random. BUT PROCEED WITH CAUTION Wiliam’s research suggests teachers cannot select students at random, especially when time is tight, they are drawn to the ‘usual suspects’ – the students who give a good, strong response so that the teacher can wrap up the matter at hand and move on. TEACHERS NEED TO FIND A WAY TO RANDOMLY CHOOSE STUDENTS ANY SUGGESTIONS?

ALLOWING STUDENTS TO RAISE THEIR HANDS ANYWAY….... Raised hands does not show who knows the answer, only those who think they know the answer. Having a sea of hands actually makes it difficult to see who does not have their hands raised. It encourages game playing – students who raise their hand even though they don’t know because they think there is less chance of being asked than if they left their hand down. We want teachers to focus on the learning not…’guess what is in the teacher’s head’ game.

The HINGE Question What do you think this is? Do you use them? What do you do when you don’t have evidence of learning? Moving on can be dire for students learning! They come at a time when you need to know if the students REALLY understand. They are diagnostic questions rather than discussion questions. You need to make sure they have got the answer from what they have been taught – not their prior knowledge. They are focused on troublesome knowledge – things that students are known to find difficult.

Finally never end a conversation with a student on a ‘dunno’ Come back to the student after others have given answers and ask him/her to pick the best one he likes. Give the student some answers and ask them to select the one which is obviously wrong. Allow them to ‘phone a friend’ or ask a friend. At the end of the day, just do not end on a ‘dunno’.

TASK In your PLP or grade group – select a program you are going to use. Design three strategies you could use to ensure random selection of students – be prepared to share these in the last few minutes today. Clarify the learning intention for ONE difficult activity in your program. Design an explanation (why), analytical, explain ‘how’ and future connection (See Slide 11). Remember they should be: Design a hinge question for this activity. What format will you deliver this in?