How Should I Respond to Wrong (or Not Very Good) Answers?
Program includes a CD with the video presentation, plus supplemental materials, PowerPoint slides, and complete transcript • $99
The stakes are high when an instructor responds to a student’s answer that is wrong or just not very good. What the teacher says to a student will influence future class participation and discussions.
Whatever the relative quality of a student’s response, faculty members can respond in ways that increase the likelihood of participation by students in the future or result in diminished participation through fewer responses and responses of lower quality.
To increase the chances of student participation, it helps to have a repertoire of strategies to employ. During this Magna 20 Minute Mentor, Maryellen Weimer, Ph.D., introduces 13 possible strategies and responses faculty members can use when a student has provided an answer that is wrong or not very good.
By participating in this program, you will be:
- Challenged to think about exchanges that you have had with your students and how they responded, and then about other approaches that you could have used in these situations to obtain better results.
- Given specific strategies to help encourage interaction with your students.
- Able to identify strategies that you are currently using and then to consider additional strategies to help expand your repertoire.
The program also includes supplemental materials that feature a summary of the strategies and a summary of key research on participation in the college classroom.
Learning outcomes
At the conclusion of this program, you’ll come away with specific suggestions and techniques for implementing 13 possible responses to help students learn and grow. The following are summaries of just some of the approaches that will be presented:
- Find something in the answer that shows promise and respond to that with a comment or follow-up question.
- Inform the student that the answer is wrong but complement him or her on making the effort.
- Solicit a collection of responses before designating the right or best one.
- Ask a follow-up question that enables the student to understand why the answer is wrong.
How Should I Respond to Wrong (or Not Very Good) Answers? • CD • $99
Each Magna 20 Minute Mentor includes a CD with the video presentation, supplemental materials, a copy of the PowerPoint slides and the program transcript.
Want to make this program available for your entire campus?
Contact us about a Campus Access License to load the CD onto your institution’s internal web site for unlimited, convenient on-demand access to members of the campus community. The Campus Access License is ideal for ongoing group or individual training or to build a library of professional development material.
If you have any questions contact Customer Service at 800-433-0499 or (608) 246-3590 or email us at support@facultyfocus.com.
Dr. Maryellen Weimer has served as the editor of The Teaching Professor since 1987. She is a professor emeritus at Penn State Berks and one of the nation’s most highly regarded authorities on effective college teaching. In 2005 she won Penn State’s Milton S. Eisenhower award for distinguished teaching. Dr. Weimer has consulted with over 300 colleges and universities on instructional issues, and regularly keynotes national meetings and regional conferences. Her book Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practices, is considered the go-to guide for educators looking to adopt a learner-centered approach in their classrooms.