2. Overview of learning activities
Teacher
page
Topic Slide
Consider the situation 5
Compare interviews and conversations 6
Listen to an interview 7-9
Examine interview questions 10-13
Prepare for an interview 14-18
Conduct the interview 19
Assess the interview 20
Reflect on the strategy 21
3. Using strategies to prepare and conduct an interview
Tools for Thought
Has anyone heard or seen someone being interviewed?
What is the point of doing this?
Interviewing
techniques
Interviewing
techniques
Student
pages
begin
4. These strategies help get useful information from a
person by conducting an effective interview.
What will I learn?
• what are the features of an effective interview and interviewer;
• how to help prepare for and conduct an interview;
• why interviewing is a useful information gathering technique.
Interviewing techniques
5. • Think of a person, current or historical,
you would like to know more about.
• Imagine you have been invited to meet this person.
• What questions would you ask?
Consider this situation
Consider this situation
6. Interview Casual conversation
Compare interviews and conversations
What are the similarities and differences between an
interview and a conversation?
Compare interviews and conversations
7. Listen to an interview
George Stroumboulopoulos Interviews
Peter Mansbridge
Peter Gzowski Interviews
Anna Maria Tremonti
Shelagh Rogers
Photo credit: Mark Dunne
Listen to an interview and brainstorm qualities of an
effective interviewer.
Listen to an interview
8. Think about criteria
• asks engaging questions
• is attentive
• has genuine interest
• is responsive
• has background knowledge
Criteria for
an effective interviewer
• Read the suggested criteria.
• Compare the qualities of an
effective interviewer you
identified.
• Determine the best possible
criteria for an effective
interviewer.
9. Consider interview tips
• Read the tips.
• Highlight new information
• Rank order the five most
effective tips.
TIPS
Preparation
• Do your homework
• Set a purpose
• Look for springboards
• Create questions
• Remember necessities
• Practice
Interview strategies
• Start easy
• Ask the right questions
• Have a conversation
• Create questions
• Pay attention to details
10. Examine interview questions
Credits : Dennis Mojado
• Think about the successful
interview tips and the questions
asked in the previous interviews.
• What are the qualities of an
effective interview question?
1. What is your favourite sport?
2. Do you think hockey is a great sport?
3. What motivates you as an athlete?
Which question is most effective?
Examine interview questions
11. Think about question criteria
• open ended
• build on interesting
background information
• draw out interesting ideas
and information
• cover a range of relevant
topics
Criteria for an effective
interview question
• How closely do your criteria
match the suggested criteria?
• Identify the most relevant criteria
from the two lists.
12. Examine questions
Leading Questions (Ineffective) Open-ended Questions (More effective)
Do you get along with your parents?
- hints that maybe they don’t get along.
Tell me about your relationship with your
parents.
- non-judgmental
How fast was the red car going when it
smashed it into the blue car?
- the red car was at fault
-suggests high speed
How fast was each car going when the
accident occurred?
- does not assign any blame or make
assumptions
Why did you disappoint your father?
A question may be ineffective because
it is closed or leading or both.
Open-ended questions tend to more
effective because they encourage
conversation and are less leading.
13. Modify questions
Work in partners to identify
the flaws in each question
Revise them to create
effective questions
14. Prepare for an interview
Interview a classmate in preparation for writing a
profile about this student for the “Know Your
Neighbour” section of the school website
• Create a briefing sheet about yourself to help
the interviewer generate questions.
• Include personal characteristics, talents or other
information you would like to talk about in your
interview
Prepare for an interview
15. Identify information
• Working in pairs, exchange your briefing sheet with
your partner.
• Review the briefing sheet and identify important
background information .
17. Brainstorm questions
• Review the information
recorded from the briefing
sheet.
• Prepare your interview
questions based on this
information.
• are open ended
• build on interesting background
information
• draw out interesting ideas and
information
• cover a range of relevant topics
Effective interview questions
18. Look at an example
Possible questions
• Why did your family move to Canada?
• What has been the most difficult adjustment to being in Canada?
• What have you like the best?
• What do you like best about our school?
• How did you become a drummer?
• Who is the person you admire most and why?
19. Conduct the interview
• Interview your partner.
• After the interview
discuss how well the
interview met the criteria.
Criteria for
an effective interviewer
• asks engaging questions
• is attentive
• has genuine interest
• is responsive
• has background knowledge
Conduct the interview
20. Assess the interview
Assessing my ability to “prepare and conduct interviews”
• How well did you prepare
and conduct the interview?
• What did you learn about
interviews?
• What are the advantages
and disadvantages of
using interviews to gather
information?
Assess the interview
21. Reflect on the strategy
• How might you use the
Student resource?
• When might conducting an
interview be a useful tool?
Reflect on the strategy
Editor's Notes
Invite students to discuss the question with a partner and then share their ideas with the class.
Present students with the suggested situation
Provide time for students to write their questions. Invite students to share their ideas with a partner. Ask a few students to share their ideas with the class.
Ask students if simply meeting a person, such as in their imagined situation, would be considered an interview. Invite students to identify the similarities
and differences between an interview and a conversation. Discuss with students other ways they could find out about this person (e.g., reading about them or watching a documentary). Point out to students that people are sources of information and an interview is a way to gather detailed or
revealing information.
Explain to students that in this lesson they will learn techniques for using an interview as a method of gathering information. Discuss with students what makes an interview unique compared to other sources of research information. Inform students about the responsive nature of an interview. Point
out that an interview enables a researcher to dig deeper by asking additional questions.
Invite students to brainstorm the qualities of an effective interview. Provide examples of effective interviews from one of the suggested websites.
After students have listened to segments of several interviews, invite them to select one they thought was particularly effective and listen to it again. Instruct students to keep a tally of how many questions build on answers already given and how many questions were “fresh” or pre-planned. Discuss with students what makes these interviewers effective. Based on the discussion, develop criteria for an effective interviewer (e.g., asks engaging questions, is attentive, has genuine interest, is
responsive, has background information).
Connect student generated criteria with the suggested criteria. As a class, determine the best possible criteria.
Provide students with a copy of Tips for a successful Interview (Activity Sheet #5A). Instruct students to read the information together or individually and highlight information that is new to them.
Invites students to discuss which 5 pieces of advice would be most helpful to a fellow student about to interview a classmate.
➤ Pose the question, “What does an effective interview question look like?” Encourage students to think about the questions asked in the previously viewed video or audio interviews.
Based on the discussion, develop criteria for effective interview questions (e.g., open ended, build on interesting background information, draw out interesting ideas and information, cover a range of relevant topics).
➤Invite students to consider the criteria for an effective interview question. Discuss how closely their developed criteria match the suggested criteria. As a class identify the most relevant criteria from the two lists.
For further information about responsive questioning refer to Responsive questioning in the Tools for Thought collection (www.tc2.ca).
Provide students with a copy of Effective questions (Activity Sheet #5B). Examine the examples of closed and leading questions and discuss the revisions to more effective questions. Invite students to revise the last question and share their responses.
Provide students with a copy of Effective questions (Activity Sheet #5B). Review the information provided and ask students whether the criteria for effective interview questions they developed earlier are appropriate or need to be amended. Invite students to work in partners to identify the flaws of each question and then revise them to create effective questions. Model the activity using the examples provided.
Explain to students their task will be to prepare and conduct an interview. They will be interviewing someone in the class in preparation for writing a profile about this student for the “Know your neighbour” section of the school website.
Invite each student to prepare a briefing sheet identifying personal characteristics, talents, or other information they would like to talk about in their interview. Explain that the briefing sheet will help the interviewer plan the interview.
Organize students in pairs and have them exchange information sheets. Provide students with a copy of Planning an interview (Activity Sheet #5C).
As a class, review the purpose of the interview. Instruct students to record information they know about the interviewee. Guide students in identifying the background knowledge that might serve as a starting point or “springboard’ for interview questions.
If necessary use the example on the next slide to illustrate extracting information.
Use the exemplar to illustrate extracting important information from the briefing sheet.
Guide students in identifying the background knowledge that might serve as a starting point or “springboard’ for interview questions.
Review the criteria for effective questions. Invite students to generate questions and then review the questions, selecting the most effective for the interview.
If necessary, use the example on the next slide to illustrate generating questions.
Discuss the possible questions. Invite students to examine the connections between the background information and the questions. Ask students how well the questions meet the criteria. Encourage students to suggest one more question that could be added that would meet the criteria.
Explain to students that they will actually be conducting the interview. Arrange for the students to interview each other.
Discuss, and perhaps model, the importance of setting a comfortable tone for the interview and thanking the interviewee.
When students have completed the interview, invite them to self- and peer-assess their interview using the rubric provided on the next slide. Discuss what students have learned about the advantages and disadvantages of using interviews to gather information.
When students have completed the interview, invite them to self- and peer-assess their interview using the rubric provided. Discuss what students have learned about the advantages and disadvantages of using interviews to gather information.
Provide students with a copy of the Student Resource.
Explain that the Student Resource will help them use interviewing techniques independently. Review the purpose and steps in applying the strategy.
At appropriate times over the ensuing several weeks, encourage students to use this strategy in regular classroom situations.
Extension: Invite students to brainstorm historic figures or interesting people they have learned about in different areas of the curriculum (e.g., mathematicians, scientists, explorers, politicians, musicians). Instruct students to select one person of particular interest to them. Explain to students that they are going to assume the role of that person and be interviewed by another student.
Instruct students to find out as much as they can about their character so they can assume this role. All students will develop a role.
Organize students in pairs and instruct them to share the key points of their research. Provide them with a copy of Planning an interview (Activity sheet #5C), to plan an interview with the selected character.
Instruct students to provide the interviewee with a copy of the interview questions to allow the interviewee to prepare interesting answers. Explain to students that if they are asked a question they are unable to answer they should make up a reasonable response, consistent with what they know about the character.
