Think-pair-share
Faculty asked students to talk briefly in pairs to discuss each other’s understanding of an idea or problem.
About
As it is one of the easiest and quickest active and collaborative activities, and students enjoy it, it is no surprise that it is used often. Faculty mentioned that they use it to break up other activities, particularly lecture, as it energizes the class, and is a good way to help them prepare for discussion. There are issues that need to be managed, such as keeping a realistic clock, watching for unequal participation, designing good questions, shortening (or eliminating) the verbal report back, and making sure that the information derived is accurate and correct. Some faculty add a written component to the “think” portion to add to the accountability. With the brevity and engagement that it drives, I would expect that faculty will continue to employ this activity.
The original study's data and analysis for "Think-pair-share" can be found on this link.
What Faculty Have To Say
Strengths (12)
- Increases active student engagement
- Makes students central to the task
- Focuses their thinking on the material,
- They work out their own thoughts
- Prepares them for class discussion
- Builds their confidence
- Breaks up lecture
- Improves discussion
- Equalizes class contributions
- Draws out conceptual errors
- Practices applying concepts
- Exposes them to different perspectives
Weaknesses (13)
- Time consuming
- Report back is repetitive and boring
- Students can overpower each other
- Interactions can be problematic
- Unequal engagement
- Limited to two perspectives
- Must be used in conjunction with some other activity
- Can be repetitive if overused
- Hard to structure questions properly
- Hard to get the timing right
- Students can get lost
- Unsure pairs may not ask for help
- Correction can be challenging
Pedagogy Usage
Bucknell faculty was asked their best estimate for how often in the semester they used Think-pair-share and the average class time it took.
Average Duration: 9 min (mode=10)
Remote Suggestions
The ease of this quick pedagogical tool is hard to duplicate online, though randomized breakout rooms makes it possible. If you paste the question at hand into the chat prior to the breakout rooms, this will provide a prompt they can be guided by. Asking them to generate and turn in a written response is also a good idea, so one of them can be tasked with that, and they can be collected through Moodle or some other way. The slightly cumbersome structure means it will take a minimum of 10-12 minutes to get them settled, working and back again, so it becomes a slightly longer exercise than face to face. Asynchronous students could be paired up and asked to complete the taks on their own time. Students meeting outside of the class to discuss class material is one of the side benefits of traditional education, and should be used whenever possible to replicate that value.
Resources for Additional Learning
Articles & Books
- Think pair share: A teaching learning strategy to enhance students' critical thinking. Educational Research Quarterly, 36(4), 3-24.
- Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. By Elizabeth F. Barkley, K. Patricia Cross, Claire H. Major.
- Lymna, F. (1981). "The responsive classroom discussion." In Anderson, A. S. (Ed.), Mainstreaming Digest,
Websites
- The Science Education Resource Center at Carelton College
- Founder Eric Mazur in his journey to this technique