While students are engaged in a group discussion on uses of water, a teacher…
2023
While students are engaged in a group discussion on uses of water, a teacher should use the blackboard in which of the following manner ?
- A.
Arranging responses around concepts, themes and issues.
- B.
Noting responses of students who are considered bright in the class.
- C.
Listen to the students but not necessary to record.
- D.
Recording every word said in the discussion.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
When a class discussion generates many individual responses, the teacher's blackboard work is a synthesis tool: its pedagogical purpose is to organise scattered student contributions into concepts, themes and issues, so the whole group can see the structure of the discussion and connect individual points into a shared, meaningful whole.
In a discussion on the uses of water, students will offer varied responses — drinking, irrigation, industry, sanitation, conservation, and so on. The teacher's role is to group these responses on the blackboard under such concepts and themes (for example, domestic uses, agricultural uses, industrial uses, and conservation issues), turning a stream of individual answers into an organised map of the topic that every student can follow and build on.
Noting only the responses of students considered bright privileges a narrow subset of the class and defeats the inclusive purpose of a whole-class discussion, where every response deserves a hearing.
Listening without recording anything discards the blackboard's role as a shared visual reference, so students have nothing to revisit or connect their ideas to as the discussion develops.
Recording every word said turns the board into an unfiltered transcript rather than a synthesis, burying the discussion's key concepts and themes under unnecessary detail and slowing the session down.
So the pedagogically sound practice is to arrange the students' responses on the blackboard around concepts, themes and issues.