More Twitter variation ...

Today's lesson made what I thought was a now familiar use of Twitter, but the evidence of outcome was fascinating. Our current topic is the price taker model of trade, a cool variation on the old supply and demand market model. I had taught the model the old fashioned way in the previous class. Hattie calls it direct instruction, and apparently it works (who knew??? .. <engage sarcasm circuits>).

The lesson went like this. The boys were handed a small square of blank scrap paper on which they first drew the basic model. I then gave them a scenario, and required them to draw the impact of the scenario on the market, and then tweet the outcomes on three variables. The diagrams were reasonably well done (but they were after all scratch sketch diagrams), and about half the boys got the answers correct. We went over the analysis (this wasn't a 'closed question' situation, slightly deeper thinking was required).

I then set the boys a more complex exercise requiring deeper thinking, but following the same format. Now most boys got their analysis correct.

Finally I set them a third problem that included a cunningly set trap. Every boy (in both classes) got the answers correct. How do I know? They were tweeting their answers. Did any of them copy the answers of others? Possibly, that's something I couldn't control for in this setting.

Finally they had to pair and share something new that each had learned, and then tweet their learning.

Here was one tweet:

This was the consequence of an increase in productivity for a small price taking nation that improves its own productivity. This boy had completed an important piece of relational thinking (I think) within the context of the SOLO framework.

On reflection I should have pushed for an additional deeper question that looked at wider connections and flow on effects, but given the lack of 'mastery' of the model at the start of the class, I was happy with the progress that we'd made.

The use of Twitter appeared to engage the boys, and support and affirm their thinking. Of course I can't prove any of that, but the Twitter responses gave me some data on the levels of competence that we had achieved by the end of the lesson.