Drawing on pupil thinking
Teaching Guidance
for 11-14
Use those wrong tracks
You might make the wrong track
pupil ideas an explicit part of your classroom discussions by introducing them to the lesson yourself:
Teacher: Now then, in one of my other classes one of the boys said that the charged particles all come out of the battery when the circuit is switched on. Was he right? What do you think about that?
Teacher Tip: Use this kind of approach to bring out the possible wrong track step in learning so that it can be made explicit and challenged, rather than just left lurking in pupils' thoughts! Part of the trick of building expertise in any area of teaching is to be able to anticipate pupils' questions and problems.
