The Role of Wait Time in Higher Cognitive Level Learning

Tobin, Kenneth

doi:10.2307/1170357

Cited by 40 publications

(52 citation statements)

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“…In classroom instruction, teachers might also find it beneficial to pause for brief periods of time after posing questions to students. Research on teacher "wait time" supports this notion, showing that brief pauses of a few seconds following questions can positively influence students' participation in class, as well as their memory for course material (e.g., Tobin, 1987). In light of the present findings, future research should explore whether techniques designed to arouse students' curiosity contribute further to the beneficial effects of teacher wait time.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Waiting for feedback helps if you want to know the answer: the role of curiosity in the delay-of-feedback benefit

et al. 2014

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When participants answer a test question and then receive feedback of the correct answer, studies have shown that the feedback is more effective when it is delayed by several seconds rather than provided immediately (e.g., Brackbill & Kappy, Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 14-18, 1962; Schroth, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 17, 78-82, 1992). Despite several demonstrations of this delay-of-feedback benefit, a theoretical explanation for this finding has not yet been developed. The present study tested the hypothesis that brief delays of feedback are beneficial because they encourage anticipation of the upcoming feedback. In Experiment 1, participants answered obscure trivia questions, and before receiving the answer, they rated their curiosity to know the answer. The answer was then provided either immediately or after a 4-s delay. A later final test over the same questions revealed a significant delay-of-feedback benefit, but only for items that had been rated high in curiosity. Experiment 2 replicated this same effect and showed that the delay-of-feedback benefit only occurs when feedback is provided after a variable, unpredictable time duration (either 2, 4, or 8 s) rather than after a constant duration (always 4 s). These findings demonstrate that the delay-of-feedback effect appears to be greatest under conditions in which participants are curious to know the answer and when the answer is provided after an unpredictable time interval.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Waiting for feedback helps if you want to know the answer: the role of curiosity in the delay-of-feedback benefit

et al. 2014

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“…Perhaps the simplest teaching strategy to increase time for student thinking and to expand the number of students participating verbally in a biology classroom is to lengthen one's “wait time” after posing a question to your class (Rowe, 1969; Tobin, 1987). Mary Budd Rowe's groundbreaking papers introducing the concept of wait time have influenced educational practice since their publication more than 40 years ago (Rowe, 1969, 1974, 1978, 1987; Tanner and Allen, 2002).…”

Section: Giving Students Opportunities To Think and Talk About Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure Matters: Twenty-One Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Engagement and Cultivate Classroom Equity

Tanner

2013

LSE

351

329

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“…Duell et al [6] examined the wait time in college classes and found that the mean faculty members’ wait time 1 was 2.25 seconds, which was similar to the actual wait time in the present study. This was desirable compared to the 0.9 seconds reported for elementary and secondary teachers [4,5] in elementary school. On the other hand, one study reported that waiting for 3-5 seconds after questioning increases the mean length of the students’ answers, encourages voluntary and adequate answers, reduces the number of failed answers, promotes speculative answers, increases the students’ questions, and improves the students’ academic achievement [4].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Tobin [4] said that waiting for at least 3–5 seconds after posing a question has a positive effect on the students’ achievement and the faculty members’ teaching performance. Other studies also reported that an extended waiting time after questioning increases the opportunities for the students to answer [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of questioning technique during classes in medical education

et al. 2012

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BackgroundQuestioning is one of the essential techniques used by lecturers to make lectures more interactive and effective. This study surveyed the perception of questioning techniques by medical school faculty members and analyzed how the questioning technique is used in actual classes.MethodsData on the perceptions of the questioning skills used during lectures was collected using a self‒questionnaire for faculty members (N = 33) during the second semester of 2008. The questionnaire consisted of 18 items covering the awareness and characteristics of questioning skills. Recorded video tapes were used to observe the faculty members’ questioning skills.ResultsMost faculty members regarded the questioning technique during classes as being important and expected positive outcomes in terms of the students’ participation in class, concentration in class and understanding of the class contents. In the 99 classes analyzed, the median number of questions per class was 1 (0–29). Among them, 40 classes (40.4 %) did not use questioning techniques. The frequency of questioning per lecture was similar regardless of the faculty members’ perception. On the other hand, the faculty members perceived that their usual wait time after question was approximately 10 seconds compared to only 2.5 seconds measured from video analysis. More lecture‒experienced faculty members tended to ask more questions in class.ConclusionsThere were some discrepancies regarding the questioning technique between the faculty members’ perceptions and reality, even though they had positive opinions of the technique. The questioning skills during a lecture need to be emphasized to faculty members.

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The Role of Wait Time in Higher Cognitive Level Learning

Cited by 40 publications

References 0 publications

Waiting for feedback helps if you want to know the answer: the role of curiosity in the delay-of-feedback benefit

Waiting for feedback helps if you want to know the answer: the role of curiosity in the delay-of-feedback benefit

Structure Matters: Twenty-One Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Engagement and Cultivate Classroom Equity

Analysis of questioning technique during classes in medical education

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