Cold-calling in Classrooms.

Now that I have had time to stew after watching the videos entitled "The Classroom Experiment," I would like to respond to something that caught my attention.

First thing's first -- I've always been against the technique of "Cold Calling" based entirely on the fact that next to no one knows why they use it.  Students see cold calling as nothing more than a chance to be publicly embarrassed based on their lack of knowledge of a specific question.  These single questions are not indicative of what a student knows of a topic.  More often than not, teacher use cold calling without explaining to students that it isn't meant to be an exercise in embarrassment and shame and that not knowing something is fine, so long as you try and learn from it.

This is something that I think Dylan William did well within the videos.  He had the teachers he was working with explain exactly what I had mentioned to their students, and that made it a bit less bothersome for me.  I also really liked the way they did the cold calling.  Teachers wrote the names of students on wooden sticks and placed them in a jar and pulled them at random.  This was really cool because it removes any notion of "playing favourites" and "picking on students."

I understand that cold calling has a place within a classroom, and it's fantastic to hear from students that may not always volunteer to answer a question, but teacher do need to be weary about how, why, and when they use it.

While reading an article entitled "Impact of Cold-Calling on Student Voluntary Participation" by Dallimore, Hertenstein, and Platt they make a very interesting assertion by saying "in classes with high cold-calling, students' comfort participating in class discussions increases, while in classes with low cold-calling, students' comfort participating does not change" (305).  This is supported by their findings presented on page 319, and it makes sense.  If they are (for lack of a better word) forced into talking in front of their peers, then they will grow used to it and participating in discussions will become much more naturally.

All things considered, Dylan William and his classroom experiment has opened my eyes to the validity of cold-calling.  That being said, I likely will not use it all that often, if ever, but if I do, I'd like to go about it the way that William has.


Citation of article used:
Dallimore, E. J., J. H. Hertenstein, and M. B. Platt. "Impact of Cold-Calling on Student Voluntary Participation." Journal of Management Education 37.3 (2013): 305-41. Print.