Last year, when partaking in an NPQ, I was cold-called. This happened on numerous occasions, both during in person sessions and online. I’m a pretty confident person and I knew my stuff – I’d done all the reading for the sessions – but when I was cold-called I felt a wave of nerves and self-doubt.
Being spotlighted in this way was out of the ordinary for me and to make matters worse I gave the wrong answer! So now I had shame and embarrassment to add to my list of emotions in response to being cold-called. I felt frustrated, too, because I had known the answer to the other questions during that session but had not been asked!
Yet, cold-calling is a technique I’ve been using for years. Ever since reading Doug Lemov’s seminal work Teach Like a Champion (2014), this has been my go-to technique for questioning.
I may have used it in the early days to catch out students I believed to be losing focus. But since then, after reading the abundance of tips from Lemov himself – and Craig Barton in his (2023) book Tips for Teachers – I have honed and developed my practice to make cold-calling far more strategic and effective.
However, recent student feedback at my school revealed that, for some, cold-calling induced feelings of anxiety, embarrassment, and being put on the spot. So, what does the educational research have to say on the matter? Let’s look at some key findings.
The negative impact of cold-calling, including reduced participation and increased anxiety, outweighed any potential benefits for student progress
Cooper et al (2018) investigated “participation activities”, which included cold-calling, in college-age students. They were concerned about the increase in anxiety among students and how these participation activities may be contributing to anxiety levels.
They reported: “Students reported that cold-call and random call only increased their anxiety.”
The interviews they conducted with students showed that fear of negative perceptions from the instructor and peers is what lead to anxiety. The researchers concluded that the fear of being singled out reduced the cognitive capacity available for other tasks, such as problem-solving.
They added: “If students experience fear of negative evaluation, they are likely evaluating their own behaviour (e.g. monitoring if they are sweating, misspeaking, and stuttering), which increases cognitive load and can compromise their ability to successfully articulate their thoughts about science in front of hundreds of other students.”
They also found that cold-call, especially if they had struggled to articulate themselves previously, resulted in students being less likely to participate in future.
They concluded that these negative effects outweighed any potential benefits of the technique.
However, the researchers also acknowledge that the study involved only a small sample (52 students) and that other studies have shown how a small amount of anxiety can be beneficial for motivation.
Interestingly, of those students who said that cold-calling causes anxiety (58%), some acknowledged that this fear was “exacerbated when cold-call was practised in large classes”.
And this of course brings to mind 1980s pop sensations Bananarama: “It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.” More specifically, teachers, when deciding if the benefits do indeed outweigh the costs, can increase potential anxiety simply in the way that they implement the cold-call.
Notably participants in this research indicated an equivalent level of anxiety when volunteering answers. Therefore, the anxiety appears to stem more from speaking in front of peers rather than from the act of being chosen for it. So knowing your students is key.
Instructors perceive the benefits of cold-call outweigh the costs, but the costs can be substantially reduced through implementation choices
Waugh and Andrews (2020) focused their study on the instructors, rather than the students, in order to ascertain if the benefits of cold-call outweigh the costs.
From interviews with teachers, they found that decisions on how to conduct cold-call to optimise effectiveness included the following.
- Explain why you are using random call: Providing a clear rationale for incorporating random call helps in setting up the practice, managing potential student anxiety, and ensures alignment with student-centred course approaches.
- Allow students to talk to one another before random call: Permitting peer discussion before engaging in random call activities serves to reduce anxiety levels and fosters meaningful engagement in subsequent small-group discussions.
- Select a group – randomly: Choosing groups when implementing random call has the potential to minimise anxiety. However, further exploration is needed to understand its impact on accountability and the diversity of voices in classroom discussions.
- Pose the question so that the student is reporting collective ideas: Framing questions in a way that emphasises collective group contributions can alleviate the fear of negative evaluation and prove beneficial for students.
- Be respectful and positive: Creating a less threatening environment for random call involves treating students with respect and maintaining a positive demeanour.
- Use names: Incorporating students' names into interactions enhances instructor immediacy and may contribute to increased student comfort with the random call method.
- Ask questions that require higher-order cognitive skills: Formulating questions that involve higher-order cognitive skills and generative engagement can enhance the overall learning experience for students.
- Use random call early in the term and consistently throughout the term: Employing random call early in the term and maintaining consistency in its use helps students anticipate expectations, fostering a sense of accountability over time.
The positive outcomes associated with cold-calling include increased voluntary participation, enhanced engagement, and improved student comfort
Dallimore et al’s 2012 study – Impact of cold-calling on student voluntary participation (see also Dallimore et al, 2017) – delves into the impact of cold-calling on voluntary participation and comfort levels in class discussions.
Contrary to concerns about potential discomfort, the results suggest that classes with high cold-calling experience a significant increase in the number of students voluntarily answering questions, and this trend grows over time.
Moreover, these classes surpass low cold-calling classes in the frequency of voluntary student responses. Notably, students in high cold-calling classes report an improvement in their comfort levels during discussions, while those in low cold-calling classes experience no change. Students interviewed in this study articulated five ways that participation enhances learning. Namely, it:
- Increases engagement.
- Helps students retain and remember information.
- Confirms what they have already learned.
- Provides clarification of prior learning.
- Deepens their understanding especially through hands-on and application-based learning opportunities.
Cold-calling can boost students' motivation and self-concept, creating an environment of higher expectations and potentially enhancing outcomes, especially for lower-achieving students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds
Marc Hayes’ research into investigation the impact of cold-calling on teacher expectations aimed to discover the relationship between high expectations and pupil outcomes (Hayes, 2020).
He hypothesised that cold-calling is one tool, of many, that exemplifies high expectations because it demonstrates the teacher’s belief that all children are capable of answering the questions.
Hayes concludes: “Introducing one practice alone is unlikely to have the same impact on outcomes that high-expectation teachers can have, but the introduction of cold-calling might be able to improve the expectations teachers have of their pupils, under certain criteria.”
His research suggests that consistency is integral to the positive outcomes associated with cold-call.
Top tips for warming up the cold-call
So it seems that the cold-call is worth keeping but that we need to prepare our students properly. How can we “warm-up” before the cold-call? Here are five suggestions:
Explain the why: Let the class know you use cold-call and your reasons why. Be explicit in your explanation that it is not a means of catching anyone out, but as Professor Dylan Wiliam (2016) has said, because the “answers of confident students are a bad guide to what the rest of the class is thinking”. Furthermore, as Kate Jones (2023) explains: “Students should know the importance of everyone contributing in a lesson, not just a few.” She continues: “Indeed, asking all members of the class to think hard about a question promotes more learning for everyone – it’s actually more fair than a hands up approach.”
Extend thinking time: In my experience, I've noticed that many teachers don't give enough time for students to think. They often ask a question and expect quick answers. To avoid this, I make sure to count to 30 silently before asking for student responses. This is important because I want to encourage deep thinking, and that takes time. Even if I get an “I don't know”, I repeat the question and give another 30 seconds before going through the process again. Presuming there are students who know the answer, I extend the question to give them more to think about.
Think-pair-share: No technique is better than think-pair-share for cold-call. Ask the class the question, give them 30 to 60 seconds (depending on the complexity of the question) in pairs to share ideas and then cold-call. Students feel less on the spot, they have had time to consider their answer, they are able to reduce misconceptions through discussion, and through having just a short time to discuss they are more focused.
Mini-whiteboards: So simple, but so powerful. Posing the question and having students write their answer on the mini-whiteboard encourages engagement for all and allows the teacher to spot misconceptions. It also allows me to cold-call those who have the correct answer but then have them extend their thinking by giving me their reasons/choices/justifications – which also scaffold the thinking of those in the class who gave an incorrect answer.
Keep a note: I keep a copy of the seating plan in a notebook and tick each time I cold-call a student. This is to ensure that I ask a range of students and don’t allow my bias to trick me into asking the same students or picking those I believe may have the answer. How does this warm up the cold-call? Because it ensures inclusivity. I will also add a question mark against any student who wasn’t able to answer the first time, or without some probing, rewording of the question or further think time. This allows me to check back with them later in the lesson and support where necessary.
Final thoughts
While some research indicates increased anxiety and reduced cognitive capacity for some students, these negative effects can be mitigated through strategic implementation choices.
Cold-calling, when implemented effectively, can lead to increased voluntary participation, enhanced engagement, improved student comfort, and even heightened motivation and self-concept, particularly among lower-achieving students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
While cold-calling may induce anxiety, careful and considerate implementation can transform it into a valuable tool for fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment.
- Debbie Tremble is assistant headteacher for teaching and learning at John Taylor High School in Staffordshire. She has 20 years’ experience in education, undertaking a variety of roles including head of English and trust lead for English and literacy. Debbie is an SLE for English, ELE for Staffordshire Research School, and is currently partaking in an NPQLTD. Follow her on X (Twitter) @mrs_tremble. Find her previous articles and webinar appearances for SecEd via www.sec-ed.co.uk/authors/debbie-tremble
Further information & resources
- Cooper, Downing & Brownell: The influence of active learning practices on student anxiety in large-enrolment college science classrooms, International Journal of STEM Education (5,23), 2018: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0123-6
- Dallimore, Hertenstein & Platt: Impact of cold-calling on student voluntary participation, Journal of Management Education (37,3), 2012: https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562912446067
- Dallimore, Hertenstein & Platt: How do students learn from participation in class discussion? Faculty Focus, 2017: www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/students-learn-participation-class-discussion
- Hayes: No hands-up: An investigation into the impact of cold-calling on primary school teacher expectations, MSc Learning & Teaching, Research & Development Project, 2020.
- Jones: Five tips for ‘cold calling’ in the classroom, Evidence-Based Education, 2023: https://tinyurl.com/2byktxwk
- Waugh & Andrews: Diving into the details: Constructing a framework of random call components, CBE Life Sciences Education (19,2), 2020: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8697661/
- Wiliam: The 9 things every teacher should know, Tes, 2016: www.tes.com/magazine/archive/9-things-every-teacher-should-know