Handling Wrong Answers

Getting students to participate in classroom discussions is an necessary part of teaching, from kindergarten through adult education. And while the specifics of each situation vary depending on the subject matter and the students’ age, all teachers should be prepared to respond to the pupil who answers a question but gets it wrong.

Today Robert Jolles, a speaker, consultant and author of books, including “How to Run Seminars and Workshops: Presentation Skills for Consultants, Trainers, and Teachers,” suggests that teachers look at this problem in two ways: by considering what questions to ask and how to phrase them, and then by calibrating their responses to incorrect answers.

Please choose your questions carefully

If you want to see if your pupil are following what you’re saying — or if they’re listening at all — a seemingly easy way is to ask what Jolles calls factual-recall questions: What is the capital of Vermont? What is the formula for calculating the area of a circle? How do you conjugate the verb “to go” in French?

These direct questions are very common, Jolles said: “We’re going to make sure students are listening and sneak up and drill them.” The problem, though, is that although they may make students pay attention, they also create a stressful environment, where students are nervous about being called on rather than genuinely engaged.

“They intimidate — they don’t inspire people,” Jolles said. “They create fear.”

The why of asking questions

For every student one solution is to ask more open-ended questions, which make students think about the topic without putting them on the spot.

In situations where the goal is to see if students have learned particular facts, so quizzing them on these facts is the best way to find out, Jolles suggests asking for volunteers rather than putting one student on the spot: “Can anybody tell me how to find the area of this circle?”

This is especially helpful at the beginning of a class, he said, “while you’re trying to create trust and momentum.”

What follows are five ways to tell a student they’re off the mark without embarrassing, rejecting, or discouraging them.

1. “How did you arrive at your answer?”

In this scenario, you’re leading the student to discover on their own where and how they went astray.

What’s cool about this method is that, with your prompting and further questioning, they’ll often work their way to the answer you’re looking for.

It takes spending some time with one special student, but it’s worth the effort—as well as the lesson for the rest of the class.

2. “You’re on the right track, but not there yet.”

This is direct, but also encouraging. It validates the student’s thinking and motivates them to go a little deeper.

Also it helps the rest of the class adjust and fine-tune their own thinking.

It does, of course, have to be true. Otherwise, you’ll send your entire class in the wrong direction.

3. “Interesting . . . it’s not exactly what I was looking for, but tell me more.”

Remember how skillful communicators respond this is a good response when you hear something you haven’t heard of or thought of before.

Educators hope the student may have an idea or interpretation that is every bit as good as the one you have in mind?but just comes at the problem from a different angle.

This has happened to me more times than I can count and illustrates how important it is to keep an open mind.

4. “I see where you’re going, but remember that . . .”

In this instance, the student is way off, which is a sign that others are likely in the same boat. The best way to handle it is to offer a hint.

Give them a clue, leave a bread trail, get them near the right path but not quite on it. It’s better to have pupils wrestle a bit to get to a solution rather than guiding them to directly.

Here it makes your lessons more compelling and naturally draws students into the excitement and challenge of learning.

5. “Thank you!”

We all know this is a good way to go when many hands are in the air and you want to give everyone a chance to be heard.

In class the way it works is that you would call on every student with their hand up and simply thank them for their answer, without ever commenting on whether any of them are correct.

After working your way through the entire group, you would then reveal the solution you were looking for

You might find that this helps get more students involved and comfortable speaking and taking chances in front of the class. It also allows them to think through and modify their responses as they hear others share out.

Almost all still learn when they’re off base, just not while under the glare of the rest of the class.