'Choral' practical?

We all heard about 'choral response' where a teacher asks a question where they would expect the whole class to answer aloud together in unison. Some references to studies are here, here, here, here, here and here. 😉

But - what about 'choral' practical? Well, recently a trainee teacher of whom I'm mentoring was planning a lesson on Specific Heat Capacity practical. His plan was the classic read the method, grab equipment and go! Nothing particularly wrong with the plan; however, a lot of other things need to be considered for a 55-minute lesson along with 'what do we want them to know', pace, safety etc.

Then, I asked my trainee, since they are recording the temperature every 1 minute, why don't we do them all together at once? Masterchef-style!

1. Students read the method individually.
2. Teacher questions students on the method to check for understanding. (short cold-calling)
3. Students collect equipment. (row by row or group by group)
4. Students set up equipment.
5. Teacher gives a time-check for students to be ready with equipment and a table of results.
6. Teacher walks around and checks equipment set up while students are preparing.
7. Teacher counts down to ready-to-start time intervals. (Be seen looking)
8. Student records the first initial temperature.
9. Teacher plays with audio the timer interval video.
10. Every beep, students record the temperature.
11. In between intervals, the teacher can do some quizzing or a separate task prepped (quiz on risks, health and safety, trends so far, observations, etc.).
12. Timer done - practical done!

Why would I recommend this?

1. Controlled behaviour management with routines, visual or auditory cues/structures and calm transitions especially for newly experienced teachers to support gaining confidence in delivering practical lessons.
2. Maintaining momentum and pace - this way, keeping students on task and minimising off-task behaviour. Teacher also have control on how many results to record depending on how much time is left. This also ensures time for purposeful task or feedback after the practical before the lesson ends.
3. Everyone on the same page - data collected on time cue which enables precision and consistency.
4. Opportunities to check for understanding - typically when the practical is done on their own, checking for understanding tend to happen at the end once they have completed the work and settled. However, this method provides opportunities in between intervals to challenge students through questioning and analysis.

Why would I might not recommend this?

1. Heavy teacher-led might removes autonomy and flexibility which limit student-led enquiry.
2. Limited opportunities for student-student dialogue or group problem-solving.
3. Students might focus on the mechanics (e.g. writing temperature readings on cue) at the expense of understanding the science behind the practical.

What other practical work might 'choral practical' be suited for?

Based on AQA specifications

1. Effect of temperature or pH on enzyme activity.
2. Photosynthesis practical to investigate effect of light intensity.
3. Rates of reaction to measure volume of gas collected every 10 or 15 seconds.
4. Cooling curve or insulation - investigating how insulation affects temperature loss (Triple/Single Science).
5. Not time interval related, however - resistance of a wire (I-V characteristics) where can be done on sequential cues.

Finally, I asked ChatGPT to write a possible definition for 'choral practical':

Choral Practical – A structured practical activity in which all students perform key actions or record data in unison, often guided by a shared timer or teacher prompts, to ensure synchronised data collection and focused pacing across the whole class.

That's it folks! Hope this is useful! If you have tried this and done so in the past, let me know what you think and add any comments below!