Gallery walk

A gallery walk is a collaborative discussion strategy that provides an opportunity for feedback: student to student, and teacher to student.

Before your students set off on the gallery walk

Encourage students to reflect on their own experience of the task and to focus their attention on the science they may expect to see in the representations. You can prompt students to recall what they have explored during the task, and to view others’ work in light of this.

During the gallery walk

The role of students is that of a critical audience. They move around the classroom like they are in an art gallery, in silence or whispering with a partner. The purpose of this activity is for them to notice how similar or different others’ work is to their own.

As students view and read others’ representations, they record relevant comments and questions about the science onto post-it notes, which they put on the posters.

Your role is to encourage students to take their time to read the work of the other students, as well as remind them to be respectful when they write comments. Students should include positive comments as well as ask questions about things not covered or displayed. Students may use the sentence stems “I like…” and “I wonder if…”. They should sign their comments to show ownership of them, as members of their class science community.

After the gallery walk

A gallery walk provides time for each student to reflect on and revisit the task. It allows students to see how others approached a representation as well as providing an opportunity for them to make alterations to their own work. During the whole class discussion, you can use the post-it notes as a source of student feedback to explore your students’ scientific thinking more deeply and call upon individuals to clarify their comments.

A gallery walk is not show-and-tell

It is important to note that a gallery walk is not a ‘show-and-tell’ activity, for students to simply share their work and comment on how it looks! The gallery walk is a tool that gives all students the opportunity to critically view and review their class’s scientific activity. In real life, scientists share their work with the scientific community through conferences and publishing in scientific journals. The gallery walk is an engaging opportunity for students to be scientists together.

Discuss with your colleagues

• What is something that stands out for you in the gallery walk? Why?
• How is a gallery walk different from a ‘show and tell’ activity?

References

Tytler, R., Mulligan, J., Prain, V., White, P., Xu, L., Kirk, M., ... & Speldewinde, C. (2021). An interdisciplinary approach to primary school mathematics and science learning. International Journal of Science Education, 43(12), 1926-1949.

Kirk, M., Tytler, R., & White, P. (2023). Critical thinking in primary science through a guided inquiry pedagogy: A semiotic perspective. Teachers and Teaching, 29(6), 615-637.