Nothing is more discouraging to a child who answers a question incorrectly than negative, non-corrective feedback. Here are some strategies to respond to a wrong answer while continuing to motivate and encourage students.
http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/ways-of-responding-to-a-wrong-or-not-very-good-answers-%E2%80%A6
- Correct the answer. Fix it for the student and the rest of the class. Make it right.
- Ask how the student arrived at that conclusion. “Explain your thinking.” “Take us through the steps that led you to that conclusion.”
- Defer to the rest of the class. “How many of you agree?”
- Solicit a collection of answers before designating the right or best one. Maybe let the class argue the merits of various answers on the way to identifying a good answer.
- Respond with positive feedback … not saying that a wrong answer is right, but with feedback that acknowledges the effort. “No, but thanks for trying.” “Close, but not quite right.” “I’m glad you made that mistake—it’s shows something that a lot of students misunderstand.”
- Ask a follow-up question that leads the student to understand the error in the answer. “If that’s correct, then how do you explain this?”
- Get the class to correct or make the answer better. “Well, we need to work a bit more on Bob’s answer. How would you make it stronger or better? What needs to be corrected?”
- Keep the focus on the answer. “This answer isn’t very good” as opposed to “No, Mary, you’re wrong.”
- Try to find something in the answer that shows promise. (Works fine in most humanities courses, but not in a math classes.)
http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/ways-of-responding-to-a-wrong-or-not-very-good-answers-%E2%80%A6