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Think-pair-share

Students work through a question in three steps: alone, then in pairs, then with the whole group. The silence up front means everyone brings an answer of their own.

Active learning formatAI resilience: RobustPreparation time: 10-30 minExecution time: < 30 minSynchronous

Think-pair-share is an activating format in which students work through a question in three steps: alone first, then in pairs, then with the whole group. The strength is in the first step. Let people talk straight away and you mostly hear whoever is loudest; give them a minute of silence first and everyone brings an answer of their own.

How it runs

  1. Think. Put a question and give one to two minutes of silence to think it through alone. Have students write their answer down — that stops it from staying a vague feeling.
  2. Pair. Students compare answers in pairs, three to five minutes. They explain to each other why they think something, not only what.
  3. Share. A few pairs report back to the room. Ask for the reasoning rather than the right answer, and for where the two of them disagreed.

What it is good for

  • A difficult concept at the start of a lecture, to find out what is already there.
  • An exam question many students got wrong, partway through the material.
  • A statement at the end, to let people notice whether their position has moved.

Things to watch

  • The silence in step 1 feels long. Hold it; anything under a minute does not work.
  • A question with one right answer produces a short conversation. A question with several defensible answers produces a conversation.
  • It works in a lecture hall of three hundred as well as in a seminar room, because the talking happens in pairs.

A specific application. The Mixed Classroom collection has think-pair-share tuned to conversations about perspective, where the question is chosen so that different backgrounds and frames of reference become visible. The same three steps, a different kind of question.

Activating prior knowledgeSharing knowledge (brainstorming, exchanging ideas)ReflectingUp to twenty fiveUp to fiftyBetween fifty and one hundredMore than one hundredMore than three hundredSmall group (2-4 pers)Lecture hallWorking group roomOnlineGeneral applicabilityKnowledge baseProgramme specific skills in applying knowledge and understanding

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