#35 Beware of saying "If you got the question wrong, make sure you have corrected it"
Those corrections can hide a lack of understanding
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💡 A tip to try in class this week 💡
A common feature of the lessons I am lucky enough to watch each week is when the teacher goes through the answers, either to classwork, homework or an assessment. Here is an image from one particular occasion:
The teacher did a really nice job of explaining to students how to do the questions, using a combination of asking students for input and supplementing this with her own explanations. After each solution, the teacher then asked if anyone was still confused or had any questions. Students were then told to copy the correct answer down in green pen if they had left it out or made a mistake.
Sounds like decent pedagogy, right?
But there was a problem. Let’s take a look at Question 2b). I was sitting next to a student who had got that question wrong. They had multiplied instead of divided. Having apparently listened to the teacher’s explanation, and choosing not to ask a question, they dutifully copied down the correct answer in green pen as instructed:
I asked the student if they could explain to me why they should have divided instead of multiplied. After a bit of mumbling, they explained that they didn’t have a clue.
Now, the only reason I picked up on this was because I was sitting next to the student at the time. How many other students had a similar lack of understanding? I had no idea, but more importantly, neither did the teacher. Sure, the teacher told students to ask if they were confused, but are we really confident all our students will do this?
But for me, the bigger issue is the instruction to copy the correct answer down if they got it wrong. This is an example of what I call - and have previously written about - the Myth of Copying Things Down. Nothing magical happens during the act of copying an answer down from the board, and yet if the teacher looks at this sheet afterwards it will look like learning has taken place - the student didn’t understand before, and now they do.
Copying down the correct answer cannot be the end of the process of going through answers. If the teacher identifies that a significant number of students have struggled with this question - getting them all to copy their final answer onto a mini-whiteboard and show it to the teacher before she goes through the answers is a good way to do this - then after the explanation there needs to be a follow-up check for understanding. This needs to be a question of similar difficulty that all students respond to - again our friend the mini-whiteboard is invaluable here - and if students get this question right, we can be much more confident that they are on the path to resolving their misunderstanding than if they simply whip out their green pens and copying things down off the board.
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