Posted By Steve Draper on 25/05/2007 15:26

A sign supporting this interpretation is that the
By requiring individual answers first, they ensure everyone thinks about the question themselves rather than waiting for someone else: a crucial advantage of such EVS use over asking oral questions in class where most students wait to see what others will say. However it is not clear that the 60 seconds conferring before the second vote really supports learning as well as, say, the Mazur method for EVS use. If you want your team to win, you will listen for the most confident suggestion, but will not have time to ask for reasons or correct your understanding. It may be more like organised plagiarism than conceptual development. Most groups outside education are organised around specialisation: each member primarily does their job, and does not try to learn others' jobs but simply coordinates their actions with others. In learning, in contrast, a different kind of cooperation is required, that will eventually leave every member equally knowledgable. This classroom setup may not be designed to achieve this, and the data on their second votes does not necessarily, or even probably, reflect their knowledge still less their understanding (ability to justify their vote).