Introduction
In this instalment of our series on Visible Learning and Maths Australia’s I-CRAVE, we will explore Reciprocal Teaching, a strategy known for its effectiveness in enhancing comprehension, and draw parallels to how the I-CRAVE pedagogy encourages similar active processing of mathematical concepts.
Understanding Reciprocal Teaching
Reciprocal Teaching (with a Hattie effect size of 0.74) is a highly effective instructional strategy, particularly in literacy, designed to improve students’ reading comprehension. It involves a dialogue between teachers and students using four key strategies: predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarising. Students take turns leading the discussion in small groups, applying these strategies to make meaning of the text. This active engagement with the material empowers students to take ownership of their learning and develop a deeper understanding. The effectiveness of Reciprocal Teaching stems from its focus on active student engagement in making meaning and monitoring their understanding.
Reciprocal Teaching Principles within I-CRAVE
While primarily applied to text comprehension, the underlying principles of active student engagement and monitoring understanding in Reciprocal Teaching have direct parallels within the I-CRAVE pedagogy. The I-CRAVE methodology, while focused on mathematics, similarly encourages students to actively process and articulate their understanding.
The “Verbal” stage in I-CRAVE is particularly aligned with the principles of Reciprocal Teaching. This stage requires “consistent engagement with the student in dialogue to enhance their learning and to check whether your teaching has been clear and accurate”. This dialogue encourages students to explain their mathematical thinking, clarify concepts they may find confusing, and engage in questioning about the material. This mirrors the clarifying and questioning strategies used in Reciprocal Teaching.
Furthermore, the “Explicit” stage of I-CRAVE also links with demonstration of understanding by the student. While teachers are explicit in their instruction, learners can also engage in explicitly showing their work and explaining their reasoning. This serves a similar function to summarising in Reciprocal Teaching, requiring students to consolidate their understanding and make it visible.
Both Reciprocal Teaching and the “Verbal” and “Explicit” stages of I-CRAVE share an emphasis on the student actively processing and articulating their understanding. While I-CRAVE doesn’t use the specific four-strategy structure of Reciprocal Teaching, the requirement for students to explain their mathematical thinking, clarify concepts, and engage in dialogue fulfills a similar function of making their understanding explicit and reinforcing learning. This is the core mechanism behind Reciprocal Teaching’s effectiveness.
The I-CRAVE pedagogy’s verbalisation and explicit demonstration requirements, like Reciprocal Teaching’s structured dialogue, encourage students to actively engage with the material, monitor their comprehension, and articulate their learning. Hattie’s research indicates that this active processing is highly effective (effect size 0.74 for Reciprocal Teaching). The previous discussions on “The Importance of Effective Teaching Practices” and “The Significance of Intentional Teaching” within the Visible Learning and I-CRAVE links also support the necessity of strategies that promote active verbal processing and understanding.
Conclusion
Reciprocal Teaching highlights the power of student-led dialogue and active processing for enhancing comprehension. Maths Australia’s I-CRAVE pedagogy, through its “Verbal” stage and emphasis on explicit demonstration of understanding, incorporates similar principles of active articulation and monitoring of learning within the context of mathematics. This alignment underscores how I-CRAVE encourages students to engage deeply with mathematical concepts, reinforcing their understanding and aligning with the effective practices identified in Visible Learning research. Foster deeper understanding through student-led learning—discover how I-CRAVE brings Reciprocal Teaching to life in maths.
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