Pair Problem Solving & Thinking Aloud (from my Human Learning & Instruction, 1997)
Another method that can be used successfully in most teaching relationships is for one person to attack a situation and talk constantly about the thoughts that are going through his/her mind as the work progresses. The thinker-talker can be either the teacher or the student. Teachers can teach the student how to think aloud by must first modeling the process.
Pair Problem Solving
Whimbey and Lochhead (1982) describe this technique as a thinker and listener pairs working on problems and rotating roles. Pair problem solving has become a popular way of helping students think about their own problem solving. Students take turns serving as thinkers (problem solvers), who externalize their thought processes by thinking aloud while analytical listeners track and guide the problem solving process as needed. It is a higher-level thinking (metacognitive), self monitoring strategy that gives students feedback on what is understood and what is still unclear . It helps students identify what parts of a problem they understand and where they get stuck. This method makes problems more engaging, teaches communication skills and fosters cooperation. It encourages skills of reflecting on beginning and later thoughts. Pair problem solving facilitates self checking and evaluating. It encourages the formation of study and support groups, and exposes teachers and students to various solution approaches.30 By listening to the student's own thoughts, he/she gains awareness and control over problem solving. Externalizing thoughts enables them to be seen from a fresh perspective.
WHAT is Think Aloud? One person will say out loud all the steps and all the mental work done when performing an academic task (e.g. solve a problem, answering a question, conducting an experiment, reading through lecture/textbook notes etc. )
There are at least three different ways to use the Think Aloud process.
1. When the thinker-talker is the subject matter expert, the process allows the expert to model their own thinking for students. This modeling shows how to think about the material (knowledge, skills, procedures etc.). It lets students hear what goes on in an expert's head when a text is read, a homework assignment is attacked, study for a test is planned, an essay is written, an error is found, or a problem is solved. It also should include statements from the expert that externalize her/his feelings so that students can learn how to self-regulate their own emotions.
2. When a student is the thinker-talker the process is valuable even when the student is alone. The student becomes more aware of what goes on in his/her head when doing an academic task and frequently this provides real insight into improving performance. Students will not, however, learn this process just by having it suggested. The teacher can model the Think Aloud process as a learner and provide an opportunity for hearing what is going on in the mind of the learner.
3. There is real value to using the Think Aloud process with two students -- one serves as the THINKER while the other serves as the analytical LISTENER. This approach is known as "pair problem solving" and has been demonstrated to be an effective approach for helping students learn (Whimbey & Lochhead, 1982). The thinker verbalizes out loud ALL the thoughts that arise in the process of completing an academic task. The listener actively attends to what the thinker says, examines the accuracy, points out errors, and keeps the thinker talking aloud. Together, the students can discover errors, misconceptions, disorganizations, and other impediments to academic performance. The teacher needs to observe each pair, monitor progress, and provide feedback on the process.
WHEN should the Think Aloud process be applied?
When the teacher wants to demonstrate to the student what and how to think about academic content/strategies.
When the teacher wants to help guide the student in learning what and how to think about academic material/tasks.
When the teacher wants to see what and how the student thinks for assessment purposes,
When the teacher wants the student to become more thorough, precise and systematic when doing academic tasks.
When the teacher wants the student to become more aware of and more in control of his/her own knowledge, skills and attitudes.
WHY should Think Aloud be used?
It helps students communicate to the teacher what they know and how they approach academic tasks. This helps the teacher identify/diagnose misunderstood/misused concepts, rules, facts, important omissions and inadequate/incomplete knowledge, approaches, or skills.
It helps students think more precisely, carefully, and systematically.
It helps students examine their own knowledge, skills and attitudes.
By hearing themselves think, they become more aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Through combining this self-awareness with feedback from the listener, students can check up on their own performance and make appropriate changes as needed.
It increases students' control over themselves as learners and can improve their academic (and nonacademic) performance.
How to do the Think Aloud process
How to Think Aloud: Problem Solver's Task
1.Translate your thoughts (ideas, images etc.) into words and recite them aloud.
2. Verbalize aloud all the steps you go through when solving problems. Don't censor. No thought or step is too small, easy, obvious or unimportant to verbalize.
3. Verbalize all the thinking you do before you start to solve the problem (e.g. what you are going to do, when, why, and how). Even second-guessing yourself is important to verbalize aloud, e.g. "I think I should use that long, complicated formula we were using a couple weeks ago. What was it called, the quadratic equation?. No, maybe not. Maybe I'm supposed to use the formula we did in class yesterday".
4. Verbalize all thoughts during problem solving e.g. "OK, I'm almost through with this division problem. Now that I have my answer, all I have to do is multiply to check and see if my answer is right."
Verbalize ALL the thinking done before, during, and after work. The verbalization must include plans of what to do, when certain steps are taken, why steps are used (not used), and how to proceed with each thought. Even "second guessing" is important to verbalize aloud. For example, a good thinker may say:
What's the best way to solve this problem? I think I should use that long, complicated formula we were talking about a couple of weeks ago. No, maybe not. Maybe I'm supposed to use that new one we covered in class today.
Consider discussing alternative approaches after the student has completed the task,.
Increase the difficulty of think aloud tasks you assign gradually.
How to Listen Analytically: Listener's Task 32 (Whimbey & Lochhead, 1982)
1. Think along with the problem solver. Follow every step and make sure you understand every step. If not, ask a question. Have the problem solver identify and define important terms, variables, rules, procedures etc. Make sure the problem solver vocalizes all the steps and does all the work. If the problem solver skips over a step without thinking aloud, ask her/him to explain the missing thought.
2. Do NOT work on the problem independently. Listen to and work along with the problem solver.
3. Never let the problem solver get ahead of you. Whenever necessary, ask the problem solver to wait so you can check a procedure, computation etc. and catch up. If the problem solver is working too fast, slow her/him down so you can follow carefully, analytically, and accurately.
constantly ask yourself, "Is that right? Did I check that?
To promote precise thinking, have the thinker carefully define important terms, variables.
suggestion helps the thinker and you must give information or demonstrate a procedure, assign a similar task as followup and require the thinker to do it aloud. Let students know that by doing these things, you're not being picky or critical, you're helping them become more self-directed learners and develop important academic knowledge, skills and attitudes.
To make sure listeners really do their job, periodically teachers should ask listeners to summarize the steps the problem solvers used . The following activities were suggested by Larcombe to help student pairs in elementary grades or remedial high school students learn to externalize their mathematical thought processes:
1. Students take turns describing the rules they use.
2. Students describe to each other how the parts fit together when doing a construction task.
3. Working with concrete objects at first, students can describe operations used when calculating. and
4. One student must guess an object, mathematical representation or graphic based on another student's description.
Limitations of the Think Aloud Method
The following factors may cause some students problems in terms of using this technique.
Belief that rote learning (memorization without understanding) is OK.
Inadequate skills for executing the academic task.
Inadequate knowledge and skills of either or both the thinker and listener.
Need for more practice in using the technique.
Cultural background of student. (Thoughts are too private to reveal aloud).
We think and listen faster than we speak.
How would you paraphrase three of the main ideas above in your own words?
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11/05/01