Foundation

Activity 4: Open Exchange of Ideas

Open Exchange of Ideas is designed to promote shared learning and expand students’ knowledge and understanding of a topic. Active participation in a discussion can support the development of important life skills, including attentive listening, asking direct questions, making sense of new information, and articulating appropriate responses to queries.

To help students make the most of this section, see our top tips below:

 To promote shared learning, encourage students to provide both factual information and own thoughts when answering a question.  Sometimes, a question can put students under pressure. If they are not sure about an answer, it is completely acceptable to admit that.  Rather than giving a confused response, it is better to say something along the lines of: ‘That’s an interesting question. Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to it, but I’m certainly going to look into it.’  Always encourage students to ask open-ended questions. Questions should seek additional information or put forward a different viewpoint.

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