Think Pair Share activity is a strategy that takes only 3 minutes in lectures or tutorials, even online, in any discipline. A Think Pair Share activity enhances student learning by facilitating students’ thinking about an issue then facilitating students’ interaction with one peer to explain their ideas and listening to their peer’s ideas. It can follow (or be followed) by a minute of writing by simply adding one minute of writing before or after the Think Pair Share. By writing their thoughts, students must clarify their thoughts. Writing others’ comments helps students to listen.
The intention is to:
1. get students to think independently about some problem; then
2. verbalise what they have learned about that problem to another person.
By explaining what students know, they clarify their own thinking as they have to articulate their thoughts to someone else and in doing so they may find out what they do NOT know.
How to do a Think Pair Share
The facilitator first explains how to do the activity. Explain the timing. Revise listening skills. Try 60 seconds with a particular noise – say a loud knock on the desk – to indicate the end of each step.
* The facilitator poses a question, problem, issue or idea (that does not simply have one answer).
* This can be up on the board or a PowerPoint slide so everyone is clear as to the problem to be discussed.
* She/he introduces the Think Pair Share activity as the method for discussing answers to the question.
1. Think: Students then silently think, write notes, draw, and/or calculate to answer or solve the issue.
2. Pair: Students turn to a neighbour or move around the room and select their Pair.
3. Share: One student explains their ideas while the other student listens attentively without speaking. When the facilitator gives the time signal, the students swap roles.