Situation

How do I handle marked differences in prior knowledge between participants?

Solution

It is usually best to have a mix of students in the group with various prior knowledge, as long as they want to do the same task/learning activity. Tell the participants at the beginning of the session that you typically learn more by explaining for someone than being explained to. You therefore want them to explain their thoughts and ideas as much as they can for each other. If a participant ask somebody to explain something for them, you do that student a service. Therefore ask as many questions as possible. The student that answer will learn at least as much as the student that ask the question.