Teaching and learning tricky topics

3.3 Identifying stumbling blocks

Now watch this video of trainee teachers talking about the problems that students have with the tricky topic of optics and ray diagrams. They are discussing the problem examples and stumbling blocks for this particular tricky topic.

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Video 1 Optics and ray diagrams

Activity 3 Mind maps

Allow 15 minutes

Here (in Figure 10) is the mind map which was drawn by the teachers in Video 1. Can you see how they have grouped the problem examples into stumbling blocks? It’s clearly not straightforward is it?

Figure 10 Optics and ray diagrams mind map
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You will meet this mind map again next week when you will learn more about the relationship between stumbling blocks and problem examples in the tricky topics process.

OpenLearn - Teaching and learning tricky topics
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