Teaching Tips
1. Learn more about questioning strategies. The most effective way to encourage higher order thought is to ask questions that require it!
2. Give more authentic assignments and assessment tasks. Messy, real-world problems are more likely to stimulate thought than simple application exercises and “cookbook” experiments.
3. Allow students to struggle with content before providing solutions. One of the primary differences between Japanese and American approaches to teaching math, for example, is that Japanese teachers introduce a problem, allow students to work on the problem and attempt to devise a solution, and then elicit information about their thinking before a process is taught. American teachers teach the algorithm or process first, then ask students to practice and remember it.
4. Discuss and encourage students’ ideas, even when those ideas are inaccurate. This will force students to think about and evaluate their misconceptions.
5. Generate classroom discussions evaluating the merits of various arguments in a positive way. If all positions are topics for discussion, including those proffered by the teacher, even ideas that prove to be mistaken will have value.
