I think writing good prompts is - it's certainly an art form
and I don't know that I have gotten better at it
because every prompt - I think good prompts have to be specific to that project
so I'm always trying to write prompts that are appropriate to this project
to this group students - to what I'm trying to accomplish
so I'm always sort of doing trial and error with things - so a good prompt is
focused on one issue. It gives students
enough information that they can answer in meaningful ways beyond
"good job." But it's more than yes or no questions where all they
say is "yes." It's got to give them a way in to
say not only "yes, I think the arrangement is appropriate -"
but why. In prompts I often have
at the end of a prompt in parenthesis - or in
italics - "and tell me" or "tell your classmate 'why'".
There's always "and why."