Small leverage - big impact: making voices resonate
You want participants to actively take part in your course: Ask questions, answer questions, discuss. You can set the course for active participation right at the start of the seminar: Make the learners' voices heard as early as possible. Let as many participants as possible say something in the first few minutes of the course. Regardless of whether it is thematic or personal.
Good ideas for starting questions
- "What experience do you already have with our topic?"
- "What do you think of the term X?"
- "Give us three pieces of information about your life. Outside of work / studies."
- "How are you doing today - on a scale from O to 5?"
Small lever - big effect: keep waiting times after questions
The American didactician Mary Budd Rowe observed how long teachers wait for their students to answer after asking a question. Big finding: Most teachers are too impatient: many wait only 1 second. Keep waiting times after questions!
Waiting time 1
After asking a question, wait for 3 seconds before nodding or calling out to encourage the student to answer.
Waiting time 2
Also wait for 3 seconds after the participant's answer before responding verbally or non-verbally.
The two waiting times have several effects that promote learning
- More learners participate. Even the quieter and weaker learners.
- Answers become longer and more thoughtful.
- Learners relate more to each other in conversation. Discussions can arise.
- The quality of the teacher's questions increases.
Important
Enduring waiting times is a matter of training. Mary Budd Rowe put it like this: "Waiting times go 'contre cœur', against the heart. Try it anyway. You'll be surprised what you achieve!"
"Small lever - big effect" card set
In Harald Gross' two sets of cards, you will find a total of 44 didactic tricks that you can use to test and improve the quality of your seminars, lessons and training sessions. You can look forward to lots of practical suggestions for designing and running your courses.
In these two sets of cards, Berlin-based didactics trainer Harald Gross has described the findings from teaching and learning research in a concise and easy-to-understand way. All the tricks are visualized with catchy pictures by graphic designer Marion Kreutter. Let yourself be inspired again and again by individual tips for further learning in your practice.
Order card set no. 1 in the Neuland Shop
Order card set no. 2 in the Neuland Shop