This example from the PEEL CD-ROM illustrates
Teaching for Quality Learning Principle 2:
Look for occasions when students can work out
part (or all) of the content or instructions.

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Work out what you need to find out -History

Problem: I suppose the problem was dependent learning. Students often don’t think that they can solve an unfamiliar problem by trying to apply their previous knowledge and experience. So they give it superficial attention, decide it’s not like what they’ve done before, and wait for the teacher to help them.

Response: WORK OUT WHAT YOU NEED TO FIND OUT, F 1

I decided to adopt a procedure the Maths teachers had been using called sweller questions. Here the students are given some information about a situation (e.g., a can 15 cm high and 8 cm in diameter) and instead of being asked to calculate one thing (e.g., the surface area of the can) they are asked to calculate/deduce everything they can (e.g., the volume, area and perimeter of top, area of label, etc.).

I gave my Year 8s a map (Figure 1) of the Norman invasion (we had studied other invasions of Britain, but hadn’t discussed the Normans at all), and asked them to write out as much as they possibly could about the meaning of the symbols and names. I asked them what they thought the arrows and shaded areas on the map meant. Their task was to interpret the clues. They had to draw on prior knowledge from both History and Geography. I emphasised that they were not going to be marked on it; that it was an exercise to get them thinking.

Figure 1: Map of Norman Invasion

They all worked out their own versions, then we had a discussion and linked it all together. These are some of the conclusions that the students reached after having studied the map. William and Harold were both kings of armies. William was the King of Normandy and 21 years later he ruled England as well. His army must have been stronger than Harold’s.

They raised some questions: Why did Harold have to march from Stamford Bridge? Was there a battle at Pevensey?

They were really proud of themselves. This technique asks students to take information and ‘swell it out’ as much as possible without help. It doesn’t matter if they get it wrong, what matters is that they’re giving it a go. The technique also generated a need for students to know specific information related to the task. Subsequent reading of the textbook was much more purposeful because we knew what we wanted to find out.

Copyright © PEEL Publications, 2001.