Every lesson has a moment where the teacher asks: ‘are we ready to move on?’. Rather than using guesswork, we can design questions to gain a better understanding of what pupils know, and whether we are able to move on or address what they don’t know. Wylie and Wiliam (2006) share three features of effective ‘hinge-point’ questions:
designed for easy collection of information;
incorrect responses help the teacher diagnose what students do not understand, and, ideally, provide ideas about what to do about this;
correct responses support a reasonable inference that students understand the concept being assessed.
These can typically take the form of multiple-choice questions. Although well-designed MCQs give clear information to the teacher and can elicit specific misconceptions, in this post I want to share an example of an open-ended hinge-point question – an alternative to a MCQ.
An open-ended hinge-point question
This is a simple particle model for helium gas.
Hinge Question:
What is the orange arrow pointing to?
Many pupils will say ‘air’, as they expect air to ‘fill’ everything. Asking them how they would represent air with the model can challenge this misconception. You will need to establish with them some of the components of air, e.g. oxygen and carbon dioxide. Furthermore, how can a gas be compressed if there is ‘something’ between the particles? The fact of the matter is that there is NOTHING between the particles.
The misconceptions around this topic are often so prevalent that, when asked as an open-ended question, the majority of the pupils will fail to suggest that there is NOTHING between the helium particles.
This question could be asked a MCQ with these possible answers:
A: Oxygen B: Gas C: Nothing D: Air
Whilst it might be still be valuable, this might lead to misleading data about learning as pupils could guess the right answer and there are some misconceptions that may not be on the list of possible answers.
Having an accurate diagnosis of the understanding of the pupils is key, as moving on to subatomic particles and chemical reactions could be built on a misconception, which may not fully show itself until later when more complex concepts are introduced.
Advantages of an Open-Ended Hinge Question
Active engagement: Open-ended questions promote student participation as they need to actively formulate their own responses, enhancing engagement in the learning process.
Exposes misconceptions: By asking open-ended questions, teachers can see more clearly the scale of potential misunderstandings or areas of confusion among students that might not be apparent with closed-ended questions.
And Finally…
I’s not just with older pupils that an open-ended hinge question may be beneficial.
Asking a younger pupil in provision if ‘they can find a triangle?’ could expose misconceptions including not having learnt that a triangle is a shape. If presented with flash cards with shapes on them a pupil may guess which card is the triangle and this won’t expose if a pupil is unsure that a triangle is a shape.
As with the example above uncovering this misconception is key before teaching further concepts such as introducing 3D shapes.
Wylie, E. C., & Wiliam, D. (2006). Diagnostic questions: is there value in just one? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education held at San Francisco, CA.
Read more about effective feedback in the EEF’s Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning guidance report.
