Which Quadratic?
This
is one of a series of problems designed to develop learners' team
working skills. Other tasks in the series can be found by going to
this article.
What are you aiming to
do?
For the task:
One member of the team is
trying to find out what is on their chosen card (the unknown
function) by asking as few questions as possible.
The rest of the team need
to confer and agree on a "Yes" or "No" answer to each question and
keep track of the number of questions that have been asked
altogether.
As a team:
- asking questions - making sense of your own understanding
- being concise
- listening
- reflecting on what has been said.
Getting started
The task is designed to
work with a team of four or five people. If you do the task several
times, members of the team can take turns at trying to find the
unknown function. You may also wish to appoint an observer.
You will need this set of
function cards.
Spread them out on the table so that everyone can see the sort of
functions chosen for this task.
You will each need a
sheet of paper and pencil.
Tackling the problem
Rules
- Choose someone on the team to keep track of the number of
questions - this might be the observer.
- The person who has been chosen to try to find the unknown
function chooses a card and hands it to the rest of the team
without looking at it.
- The person trying to find the function can ask up to
8 questions.
- When a question has been asked, each of the other members of
the team writes "Yes" or "No" on their sheet of paper. If they all
agree one person gives the answer.
- If the team do not agree, they will need to confer - preferably
out of earshot of the person trying to find the function. Once in
agreement, one person gives the answer.
- The person trying to find the unknown can have at most two
attempts at guessing what is on the card before the task ends. Each
guess counts as one of the 6 questions.
- The team can offer the hint "Cold" or "Warm" or "Hot" if the
first guess is incorrect.
At the end of the task
the team should discuss what proved to be good questions and less
useful questions. If the person does not identify what is on the
card, discuss what questions might have worked more
effectively.
Did you work well as a
team?
Observer guidelines
- Keep track of the number of questions
- Make a note of questions you thought were effective and
why
- Note when the team worked well together.
