Consensus 1 - 3 – 6 (CON)
Description
Consensus
1-3-6 is a process that helps students to construct group understandings
about issues. It is useful in aiding students to clarify their attitudes and
values about a topic, as well as helping students to reach agreement about the
relative importance of ideas and issues.
Procedure
1
Students make individual
lists of ideas about the topic. Give them a time limit to complete the task.
3
Students work in groups of
three to combine their ideas into one list.
Ideas are discussed,
modified, justified, included or rejected until a list is agreed upon.
A limit on time and the
number of items might make the task easier to manage.
6
Two groups of three come
together and repeat the process.
Final lists might be
displayed on butchers' paper for discussion by the whole class.
Students could use self and
peer assessment lists to evaluate their speaking and listening performances.
Students could create texts which reveal the reflective processes they
undertook and the arguments they used to justify their position.
Link to Outcomes
Students describe and reason with patterns, structures and relationships
in order to understand, interpret, justify and make predictions.
Dynamic Strategies
Application/Production, Evaluation/Reflection
Tips
Use 1-2-4 groupings for younger students or those who have had few
cooperative learning experiences. Compare consensus statements with those made
at the beginning. Ask each group to prioritise its ideas. Continue with the
process until a class consensus is reached. Ask each student to explain and
justify his or her personal view in relation to the class consensus
Adapted from Tasmanian
Education Department,
Consensus 1
- 3 – 6 (CON)
1 3
6