From the teacher or text (authority) validates student answers…
To validation of answers / explanations stems from examination of multiple sources of evidence
For this shift we want to push ourselves to consider what the students think they are up to in our classrooms. Is it that they are trying to repeat ideas that are given to them or is it that they are trying to work as a group to really make sense of the intellectual challenges posed in the classroom? As we tried to incorporate the Practices in our classrooms we began to see that the source of authority was an important consideration.
Upon answering a question (usually posed by the teacher), students often want to know, “Am I right?” They tend to seek validation from the teacher. How might we help students develop an understanding of what counts as useful knowledge and use that understanding to examine their own answers?
An appeal to authority: Student asks the teacher. If the teacher says “yes,” then the students view their task as done and thinking can stop. If this is the norm in the classroom, students learn that the teacher’s (or authority’s) stamp of approval is more important than the evidence that leads to understanding the concepts. The answer is right because the teacher said so, not because the answer is based in evidence.
An appeal to evidence: Teaching students to rely on an examination of evidence and their own thinking. This can lead to deeper thinking and improve students’ confidence to persevere and develop an understanding for how and why their explanation is useful in solving the problem or explaining the phenomenon.
Teaching with the Practices means that we are explicitly and implicitly communicating a different game in our classrooms. No longer is the authority (the teacher, the text or some distant expert) the one and only source of information or validator of ideas. Instead, our task when engaging in the Practices is to examine ideas, test them, apply them and compare them with other ideas or ways of doing things. When we engage in the Practices in our classrooms we create the conditions for students to learn why one idea might be better or more productive than
Try and send the message to students that evidence trumps authority, so ask students to justify their reasoning and evidence for correct or incorrect answers. If we only question students when they have the wrong answer, they are inclined NOT to explain but erase and correct, because the question from the teacher becomes an indication of error.
Ask students to explain how they might go about testing any given idea. Having students verify their own solutions and ideas helps them learn to plan their own investigations and rely on evidence
1. "How do we know that _____ is true? What evidence do you have to support your answer?"
2. "How might you test this idea?"
3. "How does your explanation explain the evidence?"
To help kids consider the strength of their argument, ask them to consider whether others might be convinced by their claim.
1. "What do others in the class think about this idea?"
2. "What might you say to convince someone of your idea?"
3. "Can students use the evidence to defend their arguments against critique?"