Generating and Testing Hypotheses

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Suggested Time 10-15 Minutes

A Handbook for Classroom Instruction that Works (2012) defines generating and testing hypotheses as solving unstructured problems. These types of problems do not have a clearly defined answer and may require several attempts to find the best solution and/or may have more than one solution. Some other things to consider when implementing the generating and testing hypotheses strategy might be:

To give students a model for the process. This might look like using sentence starters to get students thinking or graphic organizers to document their work and organize their thinking.
This strategy is best practiced with familiar problems when initially being taught.
When engaging in the decision making process, students may need to create specific criteria they might be looking for in a viable solution.

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Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, and Stone (2012) state that generating and testing hypotheses can further be defined as deductive reasoning. Students may make assumptions about possible solutions based on generalizations of their current background knowledge of the content. This practice answers the question, "If I do this, what might happen?" Generation and testing hypotheses consist of these four parts:

System Analysis - understanding the purpose of a system, describing how the system works, identifying a part of the system that needs to be changed, and testing out that change when possible.
Problem Solving - overcoming limitations to achieve a goal
Investigating - identifying and resolving issues
Explaining their hypothesis and conclusion

John Hattie also found that Inquiry based teaching has an overall effect size of .31. In his book Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning, Hattie found that this strategy "did not aim to achieve a simple 'right' answer...but rather involves students more in the process of observing, posing questions, engaging in experimentation or exploration, and learning how to analyze and reason (pg. 209). He does on to say that this type of instruction helps to reduce the amount of teacher-led discussion in classrooms (Hattie, 2009)