1. Inquiry learning How do we support inquiry learning? Tool ID-4: Classroom questioning discussion

2. Overview Aim: to think about the issues associated with students’ collaborative working. We will: Discuss classroom talk between students; Discuss the role of the teacher; Watch a classroom lesson and analyse what happens.

3. Collaboration Collaborative work is common in the world of work; What happens in classrooms when students collaborate in small groups?

4. Collaborate on a problem Try it out on your own; Compare answers or approaches; Refine answers in collaboration.

5. Reflecting Comment on your experience of attempting the problem Was it helpful to have a go on your own? Did someone ‘take over’? Did you build on each others’ ideas to construct chains of coherent reasoning? Did your discussion stay ‘on task’ or were you ‘wandering’?

6. Handout and video Quickly read “Characteristics of helpful and unhelpful talk” (a summary taken from research); Quickly read “The teacher’s role during small group discussion” (a summary taken from research); Draw on these for observation and analysis of the video; Bear these in mind while you watch the video. © Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, University of Nottingham 2013 - 2014

7. Discussion Where did you see instances of cumulative, disputational, exploratory talk? What do you think was the impact on learning of this? What role did the teacher play in facilitating this talk? © Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, University of Nottingham 2013 - 2014

8. Finishing off Some references to further research about collaborative working can be found on the handout. A further article by Webb gives some theoretical perspectives on student learning during collaborative group work. You may like to consider this from your own perspective as a learner.