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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Teaching Tips from Your TCC


Think, Pair, Square, Share

As faculty, we are challenged to engage our students, to keep them interested in the material and to help them develop insights into the topic. The enthusiasm of the students, their willingness to be involved and to actively participate in the class will affect the overall quality of the lecture and class itself.

This does not generally occur naturally or without the effort of the faculty teaching the class. According to author and educator, Ken Bain in his book entitled *What the Best College Teachers Do* (2004), the best teachers not only know how to speak to their students, but they know how to get the students talking, too.

Bain (2004) shares an excellent example of engaging students in active discussion. He writes that in order to initiate a discussion, a question is posed to the students. They are then asked to spend a few minutes gathering their ideas on paper. The next step is to share these thoughts with another student. This concept is called “think, then pair.” Students typically burst into discussion. Following this pair’s conversation, they are asked to meet with another pair of students for “think, pair, square.” The entire class finally comes together for a full discussion and the small groups report and support their conclusions to the initial question. This final phase is entitled “think, pair, square, share.”  This teaching tip can work well with a small class or a class as large as 200 students.

This “think, pair, square, share” technique is a great way to engage the students, personalize their learning experience, and generate thoughtful discussion from all students.

Submitted byJackie Sayre Dorsey
Department of Nursing

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Julie Damerell
Transitional Studies
04/15/2009