8 So… Whatcha Thinking About?
Eliciting & Interpreting Individual Student's Thinking
By Jennifer Ramsdale, Fleming College
Sometimes we need to find out what our students are thinking. Since reading minds is not a skill available to us, we need to find out in other ways.
Since learning happens entirely within the individual how can we know it is there? I cannot look into the minds of the learners in my classroom and find understanding. Luckily, it is not a question of whether a tree makes a sound when it falls if no one is there to hear it because the learner is there to hear it; they are present for their learning. We need to use techniques that allow them to share what is on their mind so that we can hear it too. Once we know what they are thinking we are much better able to tailor our instruction to their needs.
Strategies and Techniques
The challenge of identifying student thinking is more straight forward than mind reading. It is simply using techniques like language, art or other pieces of work to share what it is in our minds.
- Use questions, prompts, or a task to elicit student thinking.
- The simplest way to do this effectively is to match the learning goals to your questions and activities. For example, “Explain the process of photosynthesis in your own words.” or, “Select a series of home care exercises and perform them in a therapeutic sequence.” or, “How does the artist use shape and color to convey a sense of lightness in this figure?”
- Compare the students’ ideas and work to identify patterns and relationships.
- A comparison can help to highlight patterns and critical ideas as well as increase interaction in your class. For example, “Do you agree with Doug on this point?” or, “How does Daisy’s comment relate to what we studied last week?”
- Use the student’s previous work and thinking to evaluate their progress.
- As you work with your students you will begin to build a picture of their mind, personality, and learning that will help you to tailor your instruction to their individual needs. For example, “Would you be willing to explain how today’s reading has affected your answer?”
- Use a tone of voice and approach that helps you to connect with and support students.
- It is important to minimize the threat of being wrong and take the negativity out of making mistakes by highlighting what is right and how useful mistakes are for the learning process. For example, “You are placing your hands in exactly the right position to do a perfect cartwheel. Using that correct starting position you will be able to straighten your body more fully by increasing your momentum.”
Like choosing a route on a map ask yourself, “What is the easiest path for the learner to get where they need to go?” Simple is better in most cases.
Example – Concept Maps
I use concept maps as a teaching tool to make learning more evident. These maps can be used to demonstrate meeting learning outcomes, to make connections between course concepts or between courses, a