Cumulative listing is a fast and efficient way to collate responses from a group.

1. Following an activity, ask a participant to share one of their ideas.
2. Record the idea and ask others with a similar response or those who agree with the response to raise their hands. Record the number of raised hands.
3. Move to a second participant and repeat the process.
4. Continue until all ideas have been exhausted.

This process allows you to capture broadly similar responses quickly, with a measure of the frequency of that response. You can then undertake a more detailed analysis of common responses through discussion if required.

Some instances where you might use the cumulative listing technique include:

• listing ideas generated from an individual or collaborative brainstorm.
• following an observation and discussion of a science phenomenon.
• after posing a question, to list the generated responses to that question. For example What do we use minerals for?
• Listing students’ ideas or explanations after watching a science demonstration.

Discuss with your colleagues

• When might it be most effective to use cumulative listing?
• When would it not be necessary to use cumulative listing?

References

Murdoch, Kath (1998). Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning. Victoria: Eleanor Curtain Publishing.