If you are interested in some current research on the power of questioning and answering techniques, I suggest you have a look at an article by two Macquarie staff - Donna Gibbs and Kerry-Ann O'Sullivan. The reference is:
'Thinking outside the square: Using LAMS to teach a concept'. (Curriculum and Teaching, vol 20, no 2, 2005)
You might already have heard about the maths class described in the paper, but Gibbs and O'Sullivan have closely examined the responses given by the boys. The LAMS Q & A tool was used, and the boys were asked questions such as:
'In your opinion, what is a rectangle? Write down all the things that you think make a rectangle a rectangle.'
The answers from the Year 7 boys are really interesting, because they show that some students are capable of working at a much higher level than expected. Gibbs and O'Sullivan say:
'Our analysis of the twenty-seven responses to the question from this perspective suggest they are fairly typical of the kind that would be expected from students across the first three years of secondary school. That these students are all in their first year of secondary school (around the age of 12) and that they are boys from fairly low socio-economic backgrounds, suggest the students are performing a lot better than might be expected, and some are working at quite a high level.' (p50)
The class they looked at was at Kemnal Technology College in the UK, where the teachers have done so much with LAMS - with teachers like Andy Parry and co.
I have seen these LAMS evangelist moments a few times ( in eg Education, Sociology and English) - .....
....you know, when you look at students' writing in LAMS, and go -
'Aha! ....Wow this is good! I've been trying to get this sort of writing and thinking from the students for ages! '
It can even make you forget about the bugs in LAMS that drive you crazy - (you know, the one that will be fixed in the next version!).
This would be great topic for a LAMS chat! :)
Posted by Robyn Philip
