Definition
Wait time refers to the silences that occur between teachers and students speaking in classrooms. Rowe (1972) distinguished between two types of wait time. Wait time 1 refers to the amount of time a teacher will wait for a student’s response to them asking a question before they will speak again, and wait time 2 refers to the time a teacher waits following a student’s response before speaking. Later, Rowe (1974) identified other varieties of wait time within these two categories and included the intervals between a teacher asking a question and a student answering and the pause between asking a question and nominating a student to respond. These were both subsumed under the category of wait time 1. Within wait time 2, she also included pauses during a student’s turn and the intervals between one student responding and another student speaking next. Lake (1973) redefined these two types as teacher wait time which is the length of the pause preceding student talk and student...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Black P, Harrison C, Lee C et al (2003) Assessment for learning: putting it into practice. Open University Press, Maidenhead
Heinze A, Erhard M (2006) How much time do students have to think about teacher questions? An investigation of the quick succession of teacher questions and student responses in the German mathematics classroom. ZDM – Int J Math Educ 38:388–398
Hodgen J (2007) Formative assessment. Tools for transforming school mathematics towards a dialogic practice. In D. Pitta-Pantazi and G. Philippou (Eds.), Proceedings of Fifth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, pp. 1886–1895
Ingram J, Elliott V (2016) A critical analysis of the role of wait time in classroom interactions and the effects on student and teacher interactional behaviours. Camb J Educ 46:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2015.1009365
Jefferson G (1989) Preliminary notes on a possible metric which provides for a “standard maximum” silence of approximately one second in conversation. In: Roger D, Bull P (eds) Conversation: an interdisciplinary perspective. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon
Kirton A, Hallam S, Peffers J et al (2007) Revolution, evolution or a Trojan horse? Piloting assessment for learning in some Scottish primary schools. Br Educ Res J 33:605–627. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701434136
Lake JH (1973) The influence of wait-time on the verbal dimensions of student inquiry behavior. Dissertations Abstracts International, 34:6476–A. (University Microfilms No. 74-008866)
Maroni B (2011) Pauses, gaps and wait time in classroom interaction in primary schools. J Pragmat 43: 2081–2093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.12.006
Mehan H (1979) Learning lessons: social organization in the classroom. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Morgan N, Saxton J (2006) Chapter 8 fewer questions, better questions, and time to think. In: Asking better questions. Pembroke Publishers, Markham, pp 74–81
Rowe MB (1972) Wait-time and rewards as instructional variables: their influence on language, logic and fate control. National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Chicago
Rowe MB (1974) Relation of wait-time and rewards to the development of language, logic, and fate control: part II-rewards. J Res Sci Teach 11:291–308. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.3660110403
Rowe MB (1986) Wait time: slowing down may be a way of speeding up! J Teach Educ 37:43–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002248718603700110
Sinclair JMH, Coulthard M (1975) Towards an analysis of discourse: the English used by teachers and pupils. Oxford University Press, London
Stahl RJ (1994) Using “think-time” and “wait-time” skillfully in the classroom. ERIC digest. ERIC Clear Soc Stud Sci Educ, pp 1–6
Star JR, Strickland SK (2008) Learning to observe: using video to improve preservice mathematics teachers’ ability to notice. J Math Teach Educ 11:107–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-007-9063-7
Tobin K (1986) Effects of teacher wait time on discourse characteristics in mathematics and language arts classes. Am Educ Res J 23:191–200
Tobin K (1987) The role of wait time in higher cognitive level learning. Rev Educ Res 57:69–95
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ingram, J. (2020). Wait Time. In: Lerman, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15789-0_100030
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15789-0_100030
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15788-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15789-0
eBook Packages: EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education