OER4Schools/activities/Talking points

From OER in Education

What are they?

Talking points are deliberately thought-provoking statements for discussion and reasoning in small groups.

Why use them?

Research shows that using talking points is an effective strategy to promote conceptual learning in a target area for the following reasons:

  • They structure the group task yet keeps the discussion open-ended. This is because pupils discuss the points but are free to contribute their own understanding /opinion about the point. In other words, the task is well-defined as well as interactive.
  • They help pupils to discuss different aspects of a concept by providing cues for discussion.
  • They help to maintain the focus of discussion.