"What If Not..."

The "What If Not..." or "WIN" approach is an excellent tool that can be used to test the understanding of both the person creating the problem, which would typically be the teacher, and the person solving the problem, which would typically be the student. The reason I say "typically" is because students with a natural curiosity in mathematics will be tempted to push the boundaries of their knowledge and are likely to pose very similar questions to the teacher, so it is always helpful if the teacher has already reflected on similar questions themselves and are prepared to answer higher order questions from the students.

The strength of the WIN approach is the potential it has in identifying students that are adept in mathematics and seeking more of a challenge than the typical classroom environment offers. I believe the best application of the WIN approach would be as bonus questions on homework assignments and tests, where gifted students will be able to entertain themselves while the rest of the class catches up.

The weakness of the WIN approach is its ability to terrify students with a weak or moderate understanding in mathematics. A student that has a tentative understanding of a new concept may find that they are unable to grasp higher order questions until they have affirmed their own knowledge, which may not happen until after a unit is complete.

Unfortunately the WIN approach does not have any application in our micro teaching lesson on "Introduction to Algebra", since we only have 15 minutes to introduce the topic, and I believe the WIN approach is better left for a second or third class on the subject, when students are more comfortable with the material.