Improving Class Interaction

Any Questions?
(Richard Felder, Chemical Engineering Education, 1994)

If I ask the whole class a question and wait for someone to volunteer an answer, the students remain silent and nervously avoid eye contact with me until one of them (usually the same one) pipes up with an answer. On the other hand, if I call on individual students with questions, I am likely to provoke more fear than thought.

No matter how kindly my manner and how many eloquent speeches I make about the value of wrong answers, most students consider being questioned in class as a setup for them to look ignorant in public—and if the questions require real thought, their fear may be justified.

I find that a better way to get the students thinking actively in class is to ask a question, have the students work in groups of two to four people to generate answers, and then call on several of the groups to share their results. I vary the procedure occasionally by having the students formulate answers individually, then work in pairs to reach consensus. For more complex problems, I might then have pairs get together to synthesize team-of-four solutions.

Following are some different things we can ask our students to do that can get them thinking in ways that "Given this fact, calculate that" never can.

Define a concept in your own words

Using terms a bright high school senior or your grandmother could understand, briefly explain the concept of vapor pressure (viscosity, heat transfer coefficient, ideal solution, etc.).

Explain familiar phenomena in terms of course concepts

Why do I feel comfortable in 65-degree still air, cool when a 65-degree wind is blowing, freezing in 65-degree water, and even colder when I step out of the water unless the relative humidity is close to 100%?

Predict system behavior before calculating it

Without using your calculator, estimate the time it will take for half of the methanol in the vessel to drain out (for all the water in the kettle to boil off, for half of the reactant to be converted).

Think about what you've calculated

Find two different ways to verify that the results you have calculated are accurate or that the formula you have chosen to solve the problem is the correct one. The computer output says that we need a tank volume of 3,657,924 cubic meters. Any problems with this solution?

Brainstorm

What are possible safety (environmental, quality control) problems we might encounter with the process unit we just designed? Once a list of problems has been generated, you might follow up by asking the students to prioritize the problems in terms of their potential impact and to suggest ways to minimize or eliminate them.

Formulate questions

Write on an index card two questions you could ask a classmate to verify that he or she read and understood the assigned material for today's class.

Envisioning Course Outcomes

One of the biggest changes to occur in contemporary teaching is a shift in planning. Previously, teachers planned their activities, and then thought about what the goals of the course would be. We now know that effective planning starts with the course outcome. That is what the students should be able to do outside the classroom with the information that they have learned. Once the outcome has been determined, the teacher then selects appropriate activities.

When thinking about planning for outcomes, you need to consider:

• The current demands of industry and any certification standards
• How you can link your course goals with the larger program goals
• How you can plan your course based on the intended outcomes
• How you can create lessons that will lead the students toward the desired outcome

If learning means engaging in a task that builds personal capacity for the rest of life, then curriculum design doesn't begin in the classroom at all. Curriculum design begins outside the classroom with one important question: "What do my students need to be able to DO 'out there' (in the rest of life) that we are responsible for in this classroom?" It's a simple question; seeing the answer is more difficult.

If I am creating a course in information technology, I begin by envisioning what my students will DO differently in the community, the workplace, or the family as a result of this course. It is only after I am able to articulate this in a few clear and agreed-upon outcome statements that I can decide what content is necessary and how competence will be assessed. (Stiehl and Lewchuk. "Envisioning Outcomes Intended and Unintended." The OUTCOMES Primer)

Effective learning outcomes can take many forms, but each must:

• Describe what the student will DO differently as a result of your course
• Describe meaningful learning
• Be measured/verified; i.e., you can measure students' ability to achieve them
• Represent high levels of thinking, rather than trivial tasks
• Be written in plain language students can understand

Here are two samples:

• Demonstrate the addition of sine waves using physical devices, instrumentation, and graphs.
• Use physical and chemical properties to determine the quality of paper samples and make recommendations based on specific requirements.

Types of Questions Which Keep a Discussion Lively (Part 1)

From Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms, by Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill

Questions That Ask for More Evidence

These questions are asked when participants state an opinion that seems unconnected to what's already been said or that someone else in the group thinks is erroneous, unsupported, or unjustified. The question should be asked as a simple request for more information, not as a challenge to the speaker's intelligence.

How do you know that?

What data is that claim based on?

What does the author say that supports your argument?

Where did you find that view expressed in text?

What evidence would you give to someone who doubted your interpretation?

Questions That Ask for Clarification

Clarifying questions give speakers the chance to expand on their ideas so that they are understood by others in the group. They should be an invitation to convey one's meaning in the most complete sense possible.

Can you put that another way?

What's a good example of what you are talking about?

What do you mean by that?

Can you explain the term you just used?

Could you give a different illustration of your point?

Open Questions

Questions that are open-ended

Questions that are open-ended, particularly those beginning with how and why, are more likely to provoke the students; thinking and problem-solving abilities and make the fullest use of discussion's potential for expanding intellectual and emotional horizons. Of course, using open questions obliges the teacher to take such responses seriously and to keep the discussion genuinely unrestricted. It is neither fair nor appropriate to ask an open-ended question and then to hold students accountable for failing to furnish one's preferred response. As Van Ments (1990) says, "The experienced teacher will accept the answer given to an open questions and build on it" (p.78). That is, as we all know, easier said than done.

Sauvage says that when facing moral crises, people who agonize don't act, and people who act don't agonize. What does he mean by this? (Follow-up question: Can you think of an example that is consistent with Sauvage's maxim and another that conflicts with it?)

Racism pervaded American society throughout the twentieth century. What are some signs that things are as bad as ever? What are other signs that racism has abated significantly?

Why do you think many people devoted their lives to education despite the often low pay and poor working conditions?