Take 2 for Teaching & Learning - Prediction: The Art of Intrigue and Curiosity

As instructors, it can be frustrating to have a class where students are unmotivated about your subject matter. Prediction is a way to introduce an element of curiosity and intrigue to your course. Dr. James Lang, author of Small Teaching, shares that the magic behind prediction is that students get to anticipate or guess the answers to key questions before the content is revealed. This strategy stimulates curiosity while preparing the student’s brain to absorb new information effectively. And as an added bonus, students are engaged. 

Examples of an instructor incorporating prediction into their class might look like this: 

• When you think of all the fears that people can have, what do you think is the most common fear? 
• What do you think will happen to the temperature when the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is doubled? 
• Based on the syllabus, what do you think will be the most challenging part of this course? 
• What do you think would have happened if the U.S. hadn’t entered World War II?

The beauty of prediction happens when the student chooses an answer. Whether they get the answer right or wrong, learning occurs. Memory is especially enhanced when a student gets an answer wrong because the surprise of being wrong leads to deeper cognitive processing (Pan, et.al). So don’t be afraid to ask those tough prediction questions and enhance your students’ engagement and learning at the same time. 

References:  

Lang, J. M. (2021). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning (2nd ed.). Wiley. 

Pan, S. C., Sana, F., Samani, J., Cooke, J., & Kim, J. A. (2020). Learning from errors: Students’ and instructors’ practices, attitudes, and beliefs. Memory, 28(9), 1105–1122.  https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1815790  

University of Wisconsin KnowledgeBase. (n.d.). Predicting. Retrieved July 2, 2025, from  https://kb.wisc.edu/instructional-resources/page.php?id=117975