Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy that encourages individual reflection, peer discussion, and class-wide sharing to promote deeper understanding and engagement.
How It Works
- Think: Pose a question, problem, or scenario to the class. Students reflect and form initial responses individually for a few minutes.
- Pair: Students pair up to share their ideas, discuss their reasoning, and synthesize their responses.
- Share: Select pairs to share their insights with the entire class, facilitating further discussion and clarification.
Example
In a biology class, the instructor asks: “Why do some animals exhibit cooperative behavior, and what are the evolutionary benefits?” Students think individually, discuss their ideas with a partner, and share synthesized answers with the class.
Why It’s Effective
- Supports active engagement by ensuring every student participates in the “think” phase.
- Builds confidence as students test their ideas in a smaller group before sharing with the whole class.
- Encourages collaboration and exposes students to diverse perspectives.
Adaptations
- Large Classes: Use polling tools (e.g., PollEverywhere or clickers) during the “Think” phase to gather anonymous responses, and have students discuss their answers with nearby peers.
- Online Synchronous: Instructors can pose questions via a shared document or chat, then send students to breakout rooms for the “Pair” phase before returning to a main session for class discussion.
- Asynchronous: Students post individual reflections on a discussion board (Think), comment on a peer’s post (Pair), and the instructor synthesizes responses in a follow-up announcement or video (Share).
- STEM Focus: Use it to solve step-by-step problems, where students compare methodologies during the Pair phase.
- Creative Disciplines: Ask students to critique a piece of artwork or analyze a scene from a novel before sharing interpretations.
Think-Pair-Share’s structured approach ensures participation, supports collaborative learning, and works effectively across disciplines and modalities.
Sources and Attribution
Primary Sources
This section is informed by and adapted from the following sources:
- University of Waterloo, Centre for Teaching Excellence. Active Learning Activities.
- Available at: Waterloo CTE
Use of AI in Section Development
This section was developed using a combination of existing research, expert-informed insights, and AI-assisted drafting. ChatGPT (OpenAI) was used to:
- Synthesize best practices for active learning strategies into a cohesive and accessible guide for instructors.
- Clarify approaches that promote student engagement, participation, and deeper learning.
- Enhance readability and coherence, ensuring that active learning techniques are both research-based and practically applicable in face-to-face and online classrooms.
While AI-assisted drafting provided a structured foundation, all final content was reviewed, revised, and contextualized to ensure accuracy, alignment with research, and pedagogical effectiveness. This section remains grounded in institutional best practices and respects Creative Commons licensing where applicable.
