Logan Melder

Date Approved

3-28-2011

Embargo Period

3-3-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.T. Teaching

Department

Teacher Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Lee, Valarie

Subject(s)

Classroom management; Questioning

Disciplines

Elementary Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of increasing wait time, the time interval after a teacher poses a verbal question to students and when a teacher calls on a student, as it affects the amount of class participation. There were two phases of the study: phase one was teaching using unmodified wait time for five days, and phase two was modified wait time, extending it to a minimum of three second for an additional five day period. In this study I played both roles of teacher and researcher. The teaching sessions were observed and recorded during the daily twenty minute language arts lesson. Wait time was modified with the help of a large timer placed in the rear of the classroom to insure that the three second time period was provided. The study found that the average amount of wait time given during the first phase was only 1.376 seconds and the class responded averaging 2.452 hands raised. With the implementation of a three second wait time after each question, the amount of class participation increased dramatically with an increase of over 300% in the amount of students responding to questioned by raising their hands. After completing this study, I feel that implementing increased wait time into the everyday practice of the classroom will increase the amount of classroom participation, as it did in my classroom.

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