When to ask a Diagnostic Question — part 2
In this series of posts concerning the pedagogy and practicalities of using diagnostic questions, we have consdiered:
What is a Diagnostic Question?
What makes a good Diagnostic Question?
Asking Diagnostic Questions in class
Responding to Diagnostic Questions in class
When to ask a Diagnostic Question — Part 1
Last time we looked at what is possibly the most obvious reason and time to use a diagnostic question in class — namely to assess baseline or prerequisite knowledge at the start of the lesson, and the associated difficulties deciding exactly what that baseline knowledge should consist of may entail. However, that might not be the only reason you choose to kick-start your lessons with a good, old DQ like this one:
Priming
The assessing of baseline knowledge serves another purpose that is of direct benefit to the student — their long-term memory is primed for the acquisition of the related new knowledge you intend to teach them. Mccrea (2017) explains that:
we can increase the chances of learning happening by activating, or warming-up relevant areas of long-term memory before exploring a new topic.
This is a major benefit of asking good questions. They force the student to direct attention to the relevant topic, and essentially start of process of retrieving and organising relevant knowledge in their long-term memory that will make the acquisition of new knowledge so much easier. So, if I want to teach my Year 10s how to add algebraic fractions, some diagnostic questions at the start of the lesson on adding non-algebraic fractions, simplifying expressions and expanding double brackets will not only allow me to assess their understanding of these relevant skills and intervene accordingly, but also bring these skills to the forefront of students’ minds so they are ready to be applied. I think of priming like an athlete doing stretches in preparation for a race — the correct areas are warmed up and the body (or in our students’ case, the mind) is more prepared to accept the challenge of what is to come.
To make use of the Testing Effect
The Testing Effect is related to priming. In essence, when students are compelled to retrieve knowledge, that very process modifies and enhances what is stored in long-term memory (e.g. see Karpicke and Blunt, 2011). This is, of course, good news if that knowledge is needed for the forthcoming lesson, but it can also be useful to ask questions on unrelated concepts that cover something students did last week, month or year. Given how quickly these diagnostic questions can be asked and answered, you can get through five or more in a matter of minutes. Setting up a schedule to ensure that all prior skills and concepts are revisited throughout the year via these questions is one of the best habits I have developed. The only downside is what to do if students get the question wrong? If it is not crucial to the content of the rest of the lesson, I tend to be honest with my students, reassuring them not to worry, that it is best we found that out now, and that we will come back to it some time soon. I have seen and delivered too many lessons that got derailed by an unrelated starter activity that did not go as planned. If I do not need to deal with it now, then I don’t, and instead come back when I am more prepared.
To make use of the Pretest Effect
When I interviewed Robert and Elizabeth Bjork for my podcast, one of the most fascinating concepts they discussed was the Pretest Effect. This is where being tested on material you have not studied before actually enables you to better understand and remember the material when you do study it. Whereas priming refers to focussing students’ attention on material they have seen before that is related to what they are about to learn, pretesting is for content that is brand new. We will discuss pretesting in more detail next chapter, but two studies merit a quick mention here. Richland, Kornell & Kao (2009) found that generating a wrong answer increases our chances of learning the right answer, and Kornell, Hays & Bjork (2009) found that as long as students are given appropriate feedback, they will still see a testing benefit even if they get the answer wrong on a pretest. Hence, as counterintuitive as it sounds, asking a diagnostic question at the start of the lesson on something students have not encountered before but will be doing this lesson, and having the subsequent discussion to ensure students are clear what the correct answer is, may well have two benefits. It will give you an insight into who knows what, which will better inform your teaching. But secondly, it may actually aid your students’ ability to understand the new topic.
So, those are 3 additional reasons why you might consider asking a diagnostic question or two at the start of your lessons. And next time we will turn our attention to other stages of the lesson…
And if this has whetted your appetite for more diagnostic questions, well then there are more than 40,000 of them (including 30,000 for maths), all freely available at diagnosticquestions.com
Subtle advertisement alert: my book How I wish I’d taught maths, which contains an entire chapter dedicated to the practicalities, benefits and considerations when using diagnostic questions in the classroom, is available to buy from Amazon and John Catt Education Ltd.
References
- Barton, Craig. Mr Barton Maths Podcast — Robert and Elizabeth Bjork. (2017)
- Karpicke, Jeffrey D., and Janell R. Blunt. “Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping.” Science 331.6018 (2011): 772–775.
- Kornell, Nate, Matthew Jensen Hays, and Robert A. Bjork. “Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 35.4 (2009): 989.
- McCrea, Peps. Memorable Teaching: Leveraging memory to build deep and durable learning in the classroom. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2017)
- Richland, Lindsey E., Nate Kornell, and Liche Sean Kao. “The preTesting Effect: Do unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance learning?.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 15.3 (2009): 243.
