This paper describes teacher responses to students’ answers and proposes the use of Teacher Response Model (TRM) during classroom discussion. TRM requires teachers to recognize students’ answers, commend students’ efforts, and use students’ answers to develop lessons. It also allows teachers to probe students’ answers, and modify teacher responses to students’ answers. Twelve teachers were purposefully selected from ten junior high schools (JHS) in two districts in 2009, and their lessons were observed. The teachers and 34 selected students were then interviewed on how teachers respond to students’ answers. The data was thematically analyzed, and TRM was developed. The model was later applied in five JHS in 2012. One lesson in every school was observed before and after the intervention. Generally, the teachers who applied the model and 25 selected students interviewed after the intervention reported that the use of TRM promoted student thinking and understanding of teacher questions.
Keywords: Teacher responses, classroom discussion, students’ answers, teacher questions
