Intelligent Guesswork
Intelligent Guesswork
Description of the strategy
Intelligent Guesswork
The strategy
Intelligent guesswork is a simple strategy to get students more involved with facts and figures. It
consists of a table in which either the names of places or the data are missing. The missing
information is listed beneath the table and students are asked to complete the table by intelligently
guessing what might belong where.
The strategy is useful for exploring issues around the concept of diversity
Example (of the strategy in action)
The thematic question is: is Europe a place where people discuss problems?
The lesson focus is: is Europe a place where husbands and wives discuss problems in their
marriage?
1. Discussing problems that come up between husband and wife may seem important for
some, but less important for others. What do you think, do people in the following countries
think? For them, is the willingness to discuss problems important for a successful marriage?
Please, tick the appropriate column.
country
Finland
Germany
Italy
Lithuania
Netherlands
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Turkey
very
important
quite
important
more or less
important
not too
important
not really
important
Intelligent Guesswork
United
Kingdom
2. Discuss the different responses in class and ask for reasons.
3. Compare the estimates with the data in the map:
http://www.atlasofeuropeanvalues.eu/map.php?id=200&lang=en
Debriefing questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
How did you make your estimations?
When you looked at the map were there any surprises?
Why are some estimates good and others not?
What kind of information do you think helpful to make valid estimations?
Why is this a good strategy to use?
Intelligent guesswork gives students the opportunity to relate to data by trying to estimate what
things could be like. This way data are not simply presented, but they are linked to conceptions that
are already there. These conceptions may be verified, but they may also be questioned thereby
triggering learning processes.
Why does this work with the maps?
The maps of the EVS show the data collected on peoples’ views on various issues. The resulting
patchwork is not always easy to interprete. Thinking about their view of what Europeans might
think, produces a need to know and thereby prepares students for a more focussed reading of the
maps.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the
views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made
of the information contained therein.