This week, I participated in an interesting topic during Probing in Science class. Dr. Sadiah gave different pictures and assigned us to make an interview between teacher and student according to the picture given. Each group must have two interviewers, one interviewee, two script writers for the question and answer script. After finished the interview, we have to present it in front of the class and Dr. Sadiah gave her comments on our interview scripts.

The most important things in an interview are the question sequence and questioning skill. Sequence the question from the easier to the more difficult one. In this teacher-student situation, the interviews must nonjudgemental because there is no right or wrong answer in an interview. If there is misunderstand or misconception, the teacher supposes to give feedback like ‘yes, it is right but….’ to make sure the student comfortable with the interview. Do not blame the student and avoid ‘yes or no’ answer.

Another important aspect in an interview is waiting time. The teacher must wait for the student to answer. Sometimes the student needs more time to give the best answer and the teacher needs to be patience. If the student fails to respond, rephrase and restructured the question but do not give the answer. Do not ask many questions because it will take a time and make student nervous but only ask a few specific question and probe further. After student gave their answer, the teacher should ask ‘why do you say so?’ to make the student elaborate more on their understanding. Sometimes the student used the wrong word for the right concept.

Lastly, treat the students as a human being and they do not know all the answer. Make a comfortable and relax environment to get their best opinion and prediction about the question. There are pros and cons using the interview as an assessment. With an interview, we can share the understanding between each others but the con is interviews are quite time consuming.

In my opinion, there are two types of interview, the formal and informal one. We have to treat the interviewee according to their level and situation. But the basic of interview is same. I got a clear overview about the interview after this session and I will practices it in my class and for my master project.