Say What You Mean - Effective Explanations in the

ClassroomBy Greg Paziuk

Today’s Workshop

1. Explanations vs. Descriptions

2. Steps Towards Explanation

3. What to Consider

4. Tools of the Trade

5. Keeping Your Audience Engaged

Welcome

• Find a partner

• “Explain” yourself to your partner

• 2-3 minutes

• Two or three groups to share what they focused on in their explanations

What makes a good explanation?

The difference between explanations and descriptions*

Explanations• Systematic

arguments• Addressing ‘how’

and ‘why’• Usually include

cause and effect statements

Descriptions• Concentrate on

superficial details– Number– Size– Name– Place

*According to Treagust, D., and Harrison, A. (1999). The genesis of effective scientific explanations for the classroom. In J. Loughran, Researching teaching: Methodologies and practices for understanding pedagogy (pp.28-41). London: Falmer Press.

Steps Towards Explanation

1. Have a target

2. Explore the idea together

3. Make your case

4. Involve your audience

5. Re-express, reiterate, and elaborate

6. Provide a summary and a conclusion

Prepare for the unexpected!

1. Have a target

2. Make your case

3. Explore the idea together

4. Re-express, reiterate, and elaborate

5. Involve your audience

6. Provide a summary and a conclusion

What should you consider in your explanation?

“Is this concept abstract?”

Courtesy of http://mysimpsonsblogisgreaterthanyours.tumblr.com/

“What is this related to?”

Courtesy of http://ynevar.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/diversity-training-apples-vs-oranges-pt-ii/

“Will my audience have been exposed to these ideas before, or is this brand new to

them?”

Courtesy of http://www.jaymail.net/2010/08/jaymail-sending-platform/

“How much of the picture will students need in order to understand?”

Courtesy of http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-for-kids/0169-tropical-rain-forest-biomes.php

“Are there multiple perspectives on the idea you are explaining?”

Courtesy of http://www.currin.biz/unitpages/drawing.htm

Tools of the Trade

Use Your Voice

Don’t be like Homer…

• Project

• Enunciate

• Emphasize key points or words

• Repeat questions to the class

http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season11/mansion7.mp3

Find Your Pace

Not too fast, but not too slow, eh?

• Include brief pauses

• Avoid monotone presentations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FEW5mh7iAI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA

Speak to be Understood

• Avoid jargon

• Define terminology

• Tailor your language to your audience

• Speak as you would speak; write as you would write

• Practice, practice, practice

http://splasho.com/upgoer5/

Come Prepared

• Set down the steps of your explanation

• Determine why what you have to say is important

• Rehearse your explanation

• Leave room for contingencies, so that you can respond to your audience’s needs as they change

Be Present and Active

• Incorporate gestures and facial expressions

• Use movement and expression to keep your audience’s attention and encourage response

• Use the room

• But don’t over do ithttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCMohCREiN8

Verbal Communication• Compare and contrast to show how ideas

relate– Metaphors– Similes– Analogies

• Add a ‘human element’– Anecdotes– Allusions– Personal Stories

Represent Your Ideas Visually

• Pictures can serve as evidence in your argument

• Diagrams may be used to represent processes visually

• Charts can make the results of your data more clear

Appeal to all Senses

• What does your idea feel like? taste like? smell like? sound like?

• How can you make your idea physical?– Dramatizations– Demonstrations– Re-enactment

Provide Some Context

• Connect what you want to explain to other concepts your audience is familiar with

• Provide compelling reasons for your audience to care about your subject

Nuclear Power

Explanation in Action

“What do we know about nuclear power?”

• How does it work?

• What is it used for?

• Why is it used?

• When is it used?

• Where is it used?

• Who uses it?

Today’s Objectives

• Define “nuclear power”

• Explain how it works

• Discuss its uses• Explore current issues

What is Nuclear Power?

“‘Nuclear power’ is a way of making heat and electricity from what is called ‘nuclear energy’. This is a type of energy that is produced when atoms collide, decay, or separate. The last case is called ‘nuclear fission’. Much of the world’s nuclear power comes from nuclear fission.”

(How did we do?)

How Does Nuclear Power Work?

http://www.45nuclearplants.com/nuclear_reactor_designs.asp

Let’s Act It Out

What would it look like to act out the processes that take place inside a nuclear reactor?

Here’s Another

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJ-rm-yO7k

Why Should We Care?

Some say nuclear power is especially susceptible to natural disasters:http://www.pakalertpress.com/2013/06/08/holy-fukushima-radiation-from-japan-is-already-killing-north-americans/

Others say the dangers of nuclear power outweigh the benefits:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsnL6gmGOZA

What do you think?

In Summary

• Nuclear power produces electricity by harnessing and controlling nuclear reactions and converting them into usable energy

• The majority of nuclear power comes from ‘nuclear fission’, which entails harnessing energy created when radioactive elements break down or separate

• Periodically, different groups have argued that nuclear power is too dangerous and its dangers outweigh its benefits

(An Overall Summary)

• Explanations focus on the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of a subject

• Different audiences respond to different mediums

• Demonstrate to your audience why the topic is important

• Plan, practice, repeat