Teaching Chemistry

Classroom and Lab Activities

Start a classroom discussion

  • Use a current topic to elicit discussion;
  • Plan for successful discussion eg think about the structure, timing etc.;
  • Get off to a good start – provide a series of ground rules re participation, chairing, equal participation etc.;
  • Promote listening – use non-verbal cues to maintain the flow of the discussion, prompt students to contribute;
  • Facilitate discussion – keep the discussion focussed, try not to impose your own views, ask students to clarify their views;
  • Monitor involvement – make sure everyone has a chance to contribute, arrange the classroom so everyone can see each other, be positive praise good contributions. [Back to top]
Pose a question
  • Prepare a question in advance;
  • Use open ended questions to enable students to answer in different ways. These would have no right or wrong response and encourage an opinion to be voiced;
  • Ask a question that promotes thinking by linking knowledge together;
  • Don't encourage students to just guess a response, but to think it through;
  • Give time for students to process their thoughts;
  • Be constructive in your response to their answers;
  • Distribute questions for students to think about, by themselves, in groups;
  • Get students to create questions. [Back to top]
Get students talking:
  • round robin: each student in turn shares something with the group
  • corners: students go to the four corners and are give a topic to discuss and then feedback
  • circus: – student groups go round a series of stations and then report back
  • question groups: teacher asks a question which students discuss in pairs or groups
  • research groups: groups go and research a topic and feed back
  • interviews: students interview each other in small groups and share th information with the other groups
  • roundtable: each person writes an answer to a question when a pen is passed round the group
  • jigsaw: each student becomes an expert on one particular topic by working with members of a group. They then move to another group to each group has an expert
  • brainstorming: each group is issued with a piece of paper and asked to brainstorm their ideas about a topic. Could take the form of a concept map. [Back to top]

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