ABSTRACT
Imagine you are back in school, in a science lesson. The teacher begins the lesson by saying that it will be about the solar system. She says she is going to ask a member of the class to explain to everyone why the moon seems to change shape, over the course of a month. She is looking directly at you. How do you feel? If you are/were a confident and knowledgeable science student, you may not feel at all worried, knowing that you can provide a clear answer. But it is at least as likely that you feel anxious and very unsure that you can provide the right answer. Imagine now a different classroom scenario. The teacher introduces the same topic, but this time she says she is going to give you all five minutes to talk together in groups of three to decide why you think the moon changes shape. One of you will then act as spokesperson for the group, to give the class your agreed answer. Does this scenario make you feel any different? If the prospect of providing an answer now makes you feel less anxious, then that is a tribute to the power of the process we are going to describe in this book – interthinking.
