W
wait time n
(in questioning) the pause after a teacher has asked a question before a student
is asked to respond. The effectiveness of questioning is said to be partly
dependent on the use of wait time. Teachers tend to use insufficient wait time
and to either answer questions themselves or call on another student to
answer the question. Increasing wait time both before calling on a student
to respond and after a student’s initial response (i.e. before the teacher
comments on the response) often increases the length of students’ responses,
increases the number of questions asked by students, and increases student
involvement in learning.
washback n
also backwash
(in testing) the positive or negative impact of a test on classroom teaching
or learning. In some countries, for example, national language examinations
have a major impact on teaching and teachers often “teach to the tests”. In
order to bring about changes in teaching, changes may have to be made in the
tests. For example, if the education department in a country wanted schools
to spend more time teaching listening skills, one way to bring this about
would be to introduce a listening comprehension test component into state
examinations. The washback would be that more class time would then be
spent on teaching listening skills. When teaching is found to exert an important
effect on testing, this impact is called a reverse washback.
weak form n
see strong form
weak interface position n
see interface
weak verb n
see strong verb
WebCT n
see learning management system
webquest n
an activity that requires learners to use the Internet in order to complete
the task. Webquests can extend over an entire course, several classes, or be
integrated into a single lesson.