The lecture periods are then broken down into a series of digestible snippets of 10 to 15 minutes. These short conceptual questions generally require qualitative rather than quantitative answers. The students get one minute to think and choose an answer. They are also expected to record their confidence in their answer. After they record their answers, I ask their students to turn to their neighbors and to convince them of their logic.
Chaos erupts as students engage in lively and usually uninhibited discussion of the question.
I run up and down the aisles to participate in some of the discussions - to find out how students explain the correct answer in their own words and to find out what mistakes they make. After one or two minutes, I call time and ask students to record a revised answer and a revised confidence level. A show of hands then quickly reveals the percentage of correct answers. After the discussion, the number of correct answers and the confidence level typically rise dramatically. If I am not satisfied, I repeat the cycle with another question on the same subject.