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Asking Questions - Examples
Example 1
A teacher would like to discuss the Reform Act of 1832.
Case 1
| Tutor: |
Before the Reform Act, constituencies in
England and Wales were very similar geographic sizes. This was because
when the constituencies were created the population was fairly evenly
spread, so that each MP represented a similar size population in the
House of Commons. However, largely due to the Industrial Revolution,
the population of many cities had increased, so that some constituencies
now had far higher populations than others, meaning that some MPs were
representing far smaller populations than others, although each MP’s
vote would have the same value.
The Reform Act changed this by taking seats away from ‘Rotten Boroughs’ –
constituencies with very small populations, and granting more seats to the
largely populated cities which had recently grown.
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| Tutor: | Do you understand that? |
Case 2
(a student who already understands the act to some extent)
| Tutor: | What do you know about the Reform Act? |
| Student: | I think it had something to do with voting in Britain. |
| Tutor: | Can you tell me any more than that? |
| Student: | I don’t think so. |
| Tutor: | What does the name suggest to you? |
| Student: | That something was changed. |
| Tutor: | And can you think why there may have been a need to make a change to the way people voted in the19th century? |
| Student: | Is it something to do with the Industrial Revolution? |
| Tutor: | Well you tell me. How would the Industrial Revolution affect voting? |
| Student: | I suppose that the cities grew, so those constituencies became more populated. |
| Tutor: | Would that cause a problem? |
| Student: | Yes, because the people in the cities wouldn’t be fairly represented. |
| Tutor: | Why would that be? |
| Student: | Because a small place with a few hundred people would elect one MP, as would a big city with a few thousand people. |
| Tutor: | Great, that’s why the act’s official name is ‘The Representation of People Act’. |
Case 3
(a student who knows little to nothing about the act)
| Tutor: | What do you know about the Reform Act? |
| Student: | Absolutely nothing. |
| Tutor: | Can you tell me about the system of voting in Britain? |
| Student: | Yes, politicians stand for election in certain areas, and we vote for them. |
| Tutor: | Do you know how those areas have been chosen? |
| Student: | No. |
| Tutor: | Can you think of a fair way to choose them? |
| Student: | I suppose there should be the same number of people in each area. |
| Tutor: | That sounds fair to me. Let’s assume that this
was the case when the areas were created, and then the areas were fixed.
Can you envisage any future problems? |
| Student: | Oh, people might move, and then it wouldn’t be fair anymore. |
(Here the tutor has quickly developed the understanding for the reason for the
Reform Act, and will go on to develop this in the student.)
Example 2
A teacher wishes to explain the transfer of energy when a ball is dropped
Case 1
| Tutor: | Before the ball is dropped it starts with
Gravitational potential energy (equal to mgh) and no kinetic energy.
As it’s dropped this G.P.E. is transferred into K.E. (equal to ½ mv2),
so that at any given height the sum of the two different types of energy
is equal to the G.P.E that the ball started with. |
| Tutor: | Do you understand that? |
Case 2
(a student who understands the concept already to some extent)
| Tutor: | What happens when a ball is dropped? |
| Student: | It falls. |
| Tutor: | Can you explain what happens in terms of energy? |
| Student: | The ball gains kinetic energy once it’s dropped. |
| Tutor: | Does the ball start with any energy? |
| Student: | I don’t think so. |
| Tutor: | Have you heard of the law of conservation of energy? |
| Student: | Yes. |
| Tutor: | Can you tell me what it says? |
| Student: | Energy can’t be gained or lost, it is always conserved. |
| Tutor: | OK, so if the ball has kinetic energy as it falls,
what can we say about the amount of energy it has before we let go? |
| Student: | It must be the same, so the ball does start with some energy. What is it? |
| Tutor: | What do you think it could be? |
| Student: | Potential energy? Is that right? |
| Tutor: | Can you explain what you mean – what’s causing this potential energy? |
| Student: | Gravity. Oh, gravitational potential energy. |
| Tutor: | Great, so can you now explain what happens in terms of energy when the ball is dropped? |
| Student: | The GPE is turned into KE, so the closer to the ground the ball is, the faster it’s travelling. |
Case 3
(a student who knows little about the concept)
| Tutor: | What happens when a ball is dropped? |
| Student: | It falls. |
| Tutor: | Can you explain what happens in terms of energy? |
| Student: | I don’t think so. |
| Tutor: | What types of energies do you know? |
(what should be clear here is that the tutor would need to discuss energy, and
the law of conservation of energy before proceeding with what they intended to
explain, but this has helped the tutor, because they have discovered a starting
point for the explanation).
In each of these examples, cases 2 and 3 are the way in which we ask our tutors
to teach. Case 1 is what we’d describe as lecturing, and is not how we think
that a tutor should teach.
We hope that you’ll appreciate who demonstrates their understanding in each example.
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