PART 4:
APPROACHES TO INSTRUCTION ACTIVE LEARNING: DISCUSSIONS,
WRITING, AND PERFORMANCE
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
Traditional metaphors for learning that depict a student as
an empty vessel or a blank slate to be filled with
knowledge are reflected in classroom practices that call
for the teacher to be active and the student passive.
Despite the invention of the printing press centuries ago,
the lecture remains the standard method of instruction in
higher education, reinforcing the notion of knowledge as a
product to be passed from a teacher to a student. These
metaphors and practices have exerted a strong influence on
the ways in which we think of teaching and learning in the
college classroom. Studies show repeatedly that nearly 90
percent of time in college classrooms is filled with
teacher talk.
Recently, new challenges to traditional practices and ways
of thinking about learning have been raised. National
reports criticizing higher education have called for the
use of instructional strategies that more actively engage
students in learning and help them to acquire better skills
in writing, speaking, thinking critically, and solving
problems. Cognitive scientists are arguing for new
conceptions of learning, emphasizing that knowledge is not
passed intact from a knower to a learner, but is actively
constructed by learners who draw on their previous
knowledge, mental processes, and experience to integrate
new information into their knowledge base in ways that
expand their knowledge and influence subsequent learning.
This section will talk about ways in which instructors can
engage students actively through integrating instructional
strategies into a lecture or using them as standalone
methods. (See also the section on Questioning in the
Classroom)
DISCUSSIONS
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
A highly effective way of promoting active engagement in
learning is to provide opportunities for students to
verbalize what they are learning in the classroom.
Instructors are thus able to provide the feedback that is
such an important part of the learning process at the time
when it is most needed.
Discussions not only get students to verbalize what they
are learning, but they also can provide a socializing
mechanism, can examine and clarify confusing concepts, and
can raise value questions. Discussions can be useful for
any of the following goals of instruction:
• to help students learn to think in ways that are
particular to the discipline
• to help students learn to identify and evaluate the logic
and evidence that forms the basis of their own and others'
positions
• to give students opportunities to formulate applications
of principles
• to help students identify and formulate problems using
information gained from reading or lectures
• to use the resources of members of the group
• to gain acceptance for information or theories counter to
previous beliefs of students
• to develop motivation for further learning
• to get prompt feedback on how well objectives are being
attained.
Preparing for
Discussions
Discussion
sections differ from lectures in many ways. A major
difference is that the students can be more active and that
there can be more personal contact. Good discussion
sections give students an opportunity to formulate
principles in their own words and to suggest applications
of these principles; they help students become aware of and
define problems implied in readings or lectures; they can
also increase students' sensitivity to other points of view
and alternative explanations. (adapted with permission from
Unruh, 1986)
Some new TAs wonder how there can possibly be enough to say
to fill the class period. This will be the least of your
worries. Your job is facilitating and moderating the
discussion, not doing all the discussing. New TAs sometimes
tend to overmanage the situation. Remember that the
discussion isn't just a matter of your communication with
your students; it's a chance for your students to share
ideas and pool resources. Many TAs overlook this potential
and end up trying to carry the whole conversation
themselves. (adapted with permission from Ronkowski, 1986)
There seems to be an unfortunate misunderstanding about the
amount of preparation that discussions require. Too many
instructors assume that you can "just walk in" to the
classroom and begin useful discussion. It is as if they
feel that, with a basic understanding of the subject, they
can rely upon their students for 40 or 50 minutes. However,
a good discussion takes a great deal of prior planning and
review of the subject matter. To begin with, the content
itself must be reviewed and brought up to date; that is why
keeping up in one's field is so very important. Inevitably
in a discussion, a question about present applicability or
trends, etc., will be raised, and at that point you can be
of great help if you are able to relate what is being
discussed to the most recent events or developments in the
field. It is also helpful to be knowledgeable about the
backgrounds and interests of your students. This is why
student information and background sheets and
get-acquainted sessions at the beginning of the term are
useful. For example, if you know that the mother of one of
your students works as an accountant in local industry, you
may be able to make a lesson on accounting procedures more
meaningful by drawing upon the student's knowledge of the
parent's activities. Prior planning also enables you to
anticipate the kinds of questions that will emerge during
the discussion. In this way, you can provide more
appropriate and helpful sorts of answers to those
questions. You can also consider how the questions might be
referred to other students, thereby helping them to
reinforce their understanding. (adapted with permission
from the Freshman Advising Training Manual, Northeastern
University, 1984)
Before the section meets, decide what kind of discussion is
most useful for your class. Is there a certain topic to be
discussed (perhaps arranged previously by the supervising
instructor)? Does the group have to reach a conclusion or
come to an agreement? Is there subject matter that must be
learned? Is the section a forum for expressing and
comparing views? Is it important that the students
carefully analyze the topic or that they learn certain
skills? Once you have decided what kind of discussion you
want, tell the students. It is easier for everyone if the
goals for the class have been clearly stated. (adapted with
permission from Unruh, 1986)
Implementing
Discussions
Adapted
with permission from Ronkowski (previously adapted from
McKeachie, 1978, pp. 35-68).
Before you can successfully implement a discussion section,
you will need to become aware of the implicit set of
attitudes and messages you bring into the classroom with
you. Your reactions, your responses to students, the
attitudes you project in your actions—all suggest to your
students the sort of interaction they can expect. The way
in which you field students' comments will give the most
important clue. No one wants to feel that their remark will
be put down or put off. Students are also sensitive to what
they think you really want (e.g., Does he want a discussion
or a chance for an extended monologue? Does she say she
wants disagreement and then gets defensive when someone
challenges her?) Your students will try to read you so that
they can respond appropriately. Be sensitive to the clues
you give them.
There are a number of techniques you can use in opening up
discussion. The most obvious is to draw upon students'
questions and comments and to enlarge upon them with your
own remarks. What do you do if the subject matter is new
and your students are, too? You may want to write several
statements or questions beforehand and use these as a
springboard.
When you start a discussion with a question, ask open-ended
questions which will get students thinking about
relationships, applications, consequences, and
contingencies—rather than merely the basic facts. You've
probably often heard a professor spiel off a list of
questions that require only brief factual replies and
little student involvement:
Q. When was the Battle of Hastings?
A. 1066.
The result could hardly be called a discussion. You'll want
to ask your students the sorts of questions that will draw
them out and actively involve them, and you will also want
to encourage your students to ask questions of one another.
Above all, you must convey to your students that their
ideas are valued as well as welcomed.
Some ways of initiating discussions include:
• having students write about a question or idea for a few
minutes (this method also increases the likelihood that
everyone will have something to contribute)
• assigning questions or tasks for small groups to work out
amongst themselves (such activities tend to loosen things
up, helping students overcome any inhibitions they may feel
about speaking up in front of the class)
• asking for reactions to specific portions of assigned
readings or lectures (questions can be given as part of the
previous class's homework assignment, or introduced at the
beginning of a lecture).
The more students are prepared to discuss a particular
topic, the better they will be able to participate in a
discussion about it.
Some behaviors to avoid when asking questions are:
• phrasing a question so that your implicit message is, "I
know something you don't and you'll look stupid if you
don't guess right!"
• phrasing a question at a level of abstraction
inappropriate for the class. Don't just show off your 25
cent words—discussion questions need to be phrased as
problems that are meaningful to student and instructor
alike.
• not waiting long enough to give students a chance to
think. The issue of "wait time" is an often ignored
component of questioning techniques. If you are too eager
to impart your views, students will get the message that
you're not really interested in their opinions. Most
teachers tend not to wait long enough between questions or
before answering their own questions because a silent
classroom induces too much anxiety in the instructor. Try
counting to 10 slowly after asking a provocative question
to which you are just dying to respond yourself. Students
don't like a silent classroom either. Once they have
confidence that you will give them time to think their
responses through, they will participate more freely.
Moderating Discussions
To speak
of "controlling" a discussion may be misleading since in
this setting what you are really doing is relinquishing
control over the learning process to your students.
Running a section skillfully requires creating a context of
"organized spontaneity" in which "the good section leader
gives the students opportunities and incentives to express
themselves and develop skills within the otherwise somewhat
passive context of the lecture course." (Segerstrale, 1982)
One of the keys to facilitating a discussion is to guide
its course without appearing to do so. Here is a list of
some common difficulties TAs encounter in leading
discussions which relate to the problem of "control," and
some suggestions for overcoming them. (McKeachie, 1978)
• If you habitually can't get discussion started, you first
need to pay more attention to the topics you're picking;
they may not be broad enough. Or you may not be using good
questioning skills—putting people on the spot or
embarrassing them. (See the section on questioning
techniques, page 58)
• If one or two students consistently monopolize the floor,
there are many causes at work, but the end result is a
great deal of tension. You don't want to reject the one
student, but then you don't want to alienate the rest of
the class. You may want to take one of two approaches.
Either you can use their comments to throw the discussion
back to the class ("You've raised an important point. Maybe
others would like to comment."), or you can acknowledge the
comments and offer another outlet ("Those ideas deserve a
lot more time. Maybe we can discuss them after class.").
• If there is a lull in the discussion, relax. This doesn't
mean you've failed. Every conversation needs a chance to
catch its breath. It may mean that your topic is exhausted
or it may be a pause for people to digest what they've
heard. If the lull comes too frequently, though, you may
need to give more attention to the types of topics you're
picking. You may also be inadvertently shutting down
discussion by dominating rather than facilitating.
• If students are talking only to you instead of to each
other, you are probably focusing too intently on the
speaker. You can help students talk to each other by
leading with your eyes, looking occasionally at others in
the room. This will lead the speaker to do likewise.
• If there are students who seldom or never talk, see if
you can find out whether they are shy, confused, or simply
turned off. Watch for clues that indicate that they might
want to speak up ("Alan, you seem disturbed by Dan's idea.
What do you think?"). However, be careful that you don't
embarrass a student into participating. You may want to
make a point of talking to this student before or after
class to indicate your interest.
• If you run out of material before the end of class, ask
your students if there are other topics they might be
interested in discussing. If not, let them go early. Don't
keep them the whole hour just for form's sake.
• If a fight breaks out over an issue, then you've got a
hot topic on your hands! Facilitate! Your major task here
is to keep the argument focused on the issues. Don't let it
turn personal, under any circumstances.
TAs are also often concerned about how to encourage
students to attend discussion sections. Despite the fact
that section participation is a requirement for many
introductory courses, students may believe that their
attendance is not mandatory since the TA rather than the
professor is in charge. Therefore you may want to devise a
way to structure required assignments, projects or
presentations into your sections so that section
participation will be a part of the final course grade.
If students know that the TA has some responsibility for
determining their grades, s/he or will have considerably
more authority in the classroom or in any interactions with
students. Students will also be more likely to attend
sections or lectures led by the TA.
Leading Discussions of
a Case Analysis
In
several academic disciplines, the use of case analyses is
common practice in the classroom. Business, law, political
science, and other studies often involve the assignment of
a "case study." This case depicts a series of "real world"
events and facts, usually from the perspective of an
organization, which must be analyzed by students. Should
you be involved in leading case analyses as a teaching
assistant, it is appropriate to discuss case study
discussion methods with a faculty member experienced in
leading such discussions.
Leading this discussion requires the full involvement of
the students. The discussion leader does not lecture,
recount facts, or draw conclusions, but rather uses
techniques to draw out the analysis, conclusions, and
recommendations from the students. Encouraging students to
discuss or debate case issues among themselves, and leading
them by suggestion or inquiry, are commonly used techniques
as well. Writing key facts or information on the board as
the students discuss the case also aids in directing the
discussion. The more prepared you are as the discussion
leader, the more adept you can be at focusing the
discussion, bringing in key issues, and relating these to
course objectives.
A useful publication for review prior to assisting in case
discussion is: Christensen, C.R. (1987). Teaching and the
Case Method. Harvard Business School Publishing Division.
INCORPORATING WRITING
INTO INSTRUCTION
Using
Writing to Learn
While
most teachers customarily think of writing as a means for
students to demonstrate their learning of course
material—as in an essay exam or term paper— there is
another kind of writing that instructors in all disciplines
can use in their classes as well: writing to learn.
Assignments designed to help students explore, understand,
assimilate, and extend or apply course materials and
concepts can take many forms: graded or ungraded, short or
long, in-class or at home, formal or informal, individual
or joint. They can focus on different genres, purposes, and
audiences, and can range from journal entries, field
observations, and interviews, to abstracts, proposals,
reports, and manuals. You should use assignments that
relate closely to the learning expectations of your course,
and which work well together.
Peter Elbow, Director of the Writing Program, suggests that
although writing requires much practice over time in order
to improve both fluency and quality, writing-to-learn
activities need not generate a grading burden. He
recommends that teachers assign more writing than they will
actually evaluate, since the process of writing in itself
is a mode of learning. Here are some of his observations on
the value of using writing to learn in courses of all kinds
in all subject areas:
• Writing promotes active learning. Journals and short
in-class exercises can stimulate engagement with course
content or promote inquiry; these can be entirely private,
or can provide the basis for group work or individual
project development. They can simply be read and credit
given for their completion, or minimal comments can be made
in order to invite further thinking or offer encouragement.
• Ten minutes of writing in class can bring important
material into focus, can generate questions to help guide
discussions, or can consolidate comprehension of lecture or
discussion topics. Such short assignments can take the form
of reflections, letters, summaries, applications of theory,
speculative leaps, etc. They can remain private, or can be
shared in small groups or with the whole class.
• Writing done as homework, read by the instructor but not
graded, can be used to get students to do the assigned
reading, and can provide a way to specify the intellectual
task you want students to engage in before the next class
(e.g., think about a certain issue from the reading or
lecture; compare two concepts; work out a definition).
• Using a variety of lengths and types of assignments will
help students learn to write for a range of audiences and
purposes, and will enable them to cultivate an awareness of
their own voices and styles.
• Reading your students' frequent writings will help you
keep your finger on the pulse of the class, making you a
more responsive teacher, and ultimately making your course
more successful for all concerned.
Anne Herrington, of the English Department, has some
general advice on how to use and design writing activities,
especially more formal writings, in specific courses:
• Link the writing to your learning objectives for students
so that it is clear what knowledge and/or skills the
assignment is designed to help students learn, and
integrate the writing into class activities.
• Plan in-class activities to introduce students to the
intellectual skills called for by writing activities.
• Provide opportunities for students to collaborate with
you and their peers as they work through an assignment. For
instance:
• break larger assignments into a series of smaller ones
• for longer, independent projects, advise students early
as they formulate their research questions
• have students write planning proposals and periodic
progress notes to you as they work on a major project
• schedule peer review sessions to discuss planning
proposals or drafts.
• When possible, sequence writing assignments so one will
build upon a previous one.
• Make the manner of your response to written work
appropriate to your learning objectives. It would probably
not be appropriate, for instance, to grade an assignment
whose intent was to have students challenge or explore a
disciplinary axiom, attitude, or practice.
She also suggests two key principles for planning specific
writing activities, especially those of larger scope and
weight, such as essays, proposals, projects, and term
papers:
• Identify some of the important intellectual demands the
writing will place on students. You can do this by doing
the activity yourself, noting the questions you had to
answer and the strategies you used in formulating and
expressing your ideas. You can also analyze student papers
from previous semesters, noting differences in the
interpretive strategies reflected in the better papers and
the less successful papers.
• Present the activity so that it gives students some
guidance in exploring and shaping their ideas. You can do
this by identifying the audience and purpose for the
writing (for example, the purpose might be to advocate a
certain policy to a social service agency); by posing
questions that will guide their inquiry (focus on a limited
number of key questions linked to the demands of the
assignment); and by identifying evaluation criteria, ones
linked to the important intellectual demands of the
assignment that you have targeted.
Responding
to Students' Writing
Responding
does not necessarily mean grading. We assign writing
activities for a variety of reasons and purposes, so it
makes sense to vary our modes of response as well. Here are
some guidelines offered by Anne Herrington for responding
to different kinds of written work, for commenting on
writing, and for formal evaluation of assignments.
• Make your reader responses appropriate to the purpose of
the writing activity. Here are some examples:
• If you and the students have done a brief informal
writing in class to explore ideas before a discussion, then
you need not collect and read their responses. They'll come
out in the discussion.
• If students are keeping reading journals (regularly
recording their responses to reading material) so that they
will read more actively, then you may want to skim them to
check for completion. If you have time, you can respond
briefly to the ideas and advise students as to the sorts of
questions they might pursue. Evaluating journals and
similar exploratory writings for quality of presentation is
likely to defeat the purpose of the activity.
• If students are handing in a progress report or a draft
of a major project, then you will want to advise them and
respond to their ideas. If students are handing in final
versions of a major assignment, then you will want to read
to evaluate for quality of presentation and development, as
well as responding to ideas and perhaps advising—if you
have time and if it seems appropriate.
• Whenever you write a response, try to make it one that
will foster learning and support your goals for students.
• Remember that while you are evaluating a written paper,
it is the person you are responding to. Begin by using the
writer's name.
• Be constructive in tone and in the substance of your
comments.
• Point to what is done well.
• Try to make your comments descriptive.
• A bit of planning can make a marked difference in the
quality of formal written work. Make your method of
evaluation appropriate to the writing task, and when you
introduce a writing activity that is to be evaluated, make
your evaluation criteria clear to students.
• When you respond, limit your comments and set priorities.
• Focus on the most important criteria being specified in
the assignment, considering first those matters that seem
to you to have to do with learning your subject (e.g., how
the writer interprets/analyzes the subject s/he's dealing
with; appropriateness and sufficiency of information
included; reasonableness of line of argument). Second,
consider such matters as organization, style, and grammar.
• To deal with what you perceive to be errors of grammar or
usage, try to avoid "correcting" all of them. As an
alternative, you might note them in only the opening
paragraphs or with a dash in the margins. Try also to note
and point out particular patterns in a student's errors.
• Determine your skills and priorities; try to help
students with problems that you understand and have time to
deal with.
• Finally, make your minimum expectations clear and
maintain them. Initially, you might allow students to
revise or re-edit a paper to meet the expectations. Here
are some additional suggestions for managing the writing
assignments you give, for whatever purpose.
• Don't try to pack all your advice into your written
comments for each paper. If a number of students are having
difficulty with X, then devote some class time to
instructing them about it. If an individual student is
having a number of problems, then set priorities and focus
on only one or two at a time. Finally, use in-process
response from you and other students as a primary way of
offering instructive advice.
• For longer writings, try to advise students throughout
the process of the activity and have them consult with one
another and formulate ideas once they've written their
drafts.
• Ask students to write a cover note to you when they
submit a writing. With rough drafts, you might want to ask
students to indicate what they are most satisfied with,
what they are having difficulties with or still working on,
and what particular response they would like from you, or
questions they have. With the final version, you can ask
them to discuss significant changes they have made, or how
they feel about the finished project.
• Play fair. Evaluate papers with the criteria you set up;
try not to allow hidden agendas to influence your judgment.
Peer
Response
Peer
response, an activity in which students read and comment on
one another's writing, can be a useful way for students to
offer one another advice on drafts for an important writing
before they compose their final version. Many teachers feel
that the optimum group size is three to five students; the
time needed for the activity will vary according to the
size of the group.
Peer response can be oral or written. Either way, you
should establish some guidelines for responding, You might
prepare a response guide or have the class develop one. If
you use a guide, tailor it to the demands of the particular
assignment, and don't make it too long. Here are some
sample questions suggested by Anne Herrington for a
response guide:
• What seems to be the major point the writer's trying to
get across? Any suggestions for clarifying or modifying it?
• What part is most effective or interesting to you?
• Any places where you want to hear more? Any different
kinds of information you think would strengthen this draft?
• Any place seem confusing? Any place where you lost
interest?
• Final comment and/or answer to questions asked by the
writer. Before asking students to review their peers'
drafts, you might ask them to write an informal assessment
of their own drafts (e.g., What are you most satisfied
with? Least satisfied with? What would you like some advice
about/help on?) to be passed to the peer respondent along
with the draft.
If you plan to use peer response, schedule enough class
time for students to provide thoughtful responses, and take
some time in class to introduce the process and discuss or
illustrate useful types of comments. Stress that the aim of
responding is to be constructive, to help another person
improve her/his draft.
Make it clear that you believe students can offer useful
advice to one another, and that you value the activity. It
may take a while for your students to learn to make the
most of this approach to responding to writing, and your
confidence in it can help them weather the transition.
SPECIAL ACTIVE TEACHING
SITUATIONS
Some
instructional situations involve, by their very nature,
active learning.
Examples of such situations include studios, performance
areas (perhaps where students are working on a creative
project), field studies, or laboratory situations. While
the dynamics of the student-teacher relationship and the
criteria for improving it remain essentially the same as in
traditional situations, the following additional points
could be considered. Working with students in active
teaching situations is especially challenging and an
appropriate teacher-student relationship, clearly
understood by both parties, becomes particularly necessary
(adapted with permission from Chism et al., 1992).
Teaching
in the Lab
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
When preparing a lab assignment, instructors might take a
moment to view it from a student's perspective. It is
important to look for ambiguities and poorly designed
procedures that may give the students trouble, and to think
about whether they will understand the exercise. The best
way for instructors to troubleshoot a lab is to do a trial
run themselves. It is also most important to have students
read through the assignment before coming to lab since time
is always tight and they can come prepared to begin. An
effective oral presentation might be planned in order to
introduce the lab to the students. This brief presentation
should include all the information needed to understand and
complete the assignment. As the presentation is planned,
instructors might stop and ask themselves whether they
would understand if they were one of the students.
When teaching in a laboratory, it is easy to become a
solitary figure at the front of the lab, doing nothing
unless people approach with questions. A better strategy is
to walk around the lab and talk with students, acting as
their guide to the information rather than just answering
their questions. They can be asked about obscure points
from the lecture so the instructor will better know if they
understand what they are doing.
This way, the instructor can also help students prepare for
their examinations. When offering information, it is
important for the instructor to be wary of talking over the
heads of some of the students, especially if the
information is pivotal to the basic understanding and
completion of the lab exercise. Scientific vocabulary is a
significant stumbling block; it is perhaps better to
emphasize the concepts and gradually introduce the
terminology that students should use to discuss concepts.
It is often a good idea to have students work together,
either formally or informally. In this way they can help
each other learn the material, share equipment and good
preparations, and answer each other's questions. When
students are working in groups, instructors are advised to
check on the progress of each individual within the group,
encouraging everyone to participate and making it
everyone's responsibility to help their group members
understand the material.
Good teachers stay organized and help their students to be
organized, too. It is important to know where equipment and
reference material are located, to make careful note of any
missing or damaged supplies and equipment and take care of
it right away rather than waiting until the next lab.
Checking on how students organize their data collection,
written work, and drawings helps keep them on track.
It is also useful to remind students how much time remains,
what needs to be accomplished, and to allow for clean-up
time. Safety rules should be established and the instructor
should make sure the students follow all the safety rules
and guidelines.
Preparing
Lab Sections
Adapted
with permission from Ronkowski, 1986
The most important thing you can do to ensure that your lab
sections run smoothly is to be well-prepared. Your
preparation, prior to the start of the semester, should
include being acquainted with the storeroom of the lab so
that time won't be lost during a lab looking for necessary
equipment or materials, and if applicable, knowing the
location of the first aid kit, basic first aid rules, and
procedures for getting emergency assistance.
Basic weekly planning for your lab section might include
the following:
• Know exactly what the students are supposed to learn and
why they have to learn these things. This may come in handy
when your students start to wonder why they're doing what
they're doing.
• Perform the entire experiment in advance. There is no
guarantee it's going to work as advertised in the lab
manual. By going through the lab yourself, you'll be
familiar with some of the stumbling blocks that your
students may confront, and you'll know the subtler points
of the process you are demonstrating.
• Read and study the theory on which the experiment is
based. Your understanding of the theoretical aspect of the
lab should be useful to you in handling most student
questions which don't deal with concrete parts of the
experiment.
• Research the relevance of the experiment, both the
technique being taught and the applications of the theory
being demonstrated.
• Decide how to introduce the lab most effectively. Before
students get underway with the day's lab, will they need
you to demonstrate the procedures that they'll be
following? Is a handout with written instructions in order?
Do you want two students in the class to demonstrate the
experiment to the rest of the class? Will a 15-minute
lecture about the theory and intent of the lab suffice?
Your initial introduction to the lab or the day's first
activity can set the tone and motivation for the rest of
the lab.
Implementing
Laboratory Sections
Adapted
with permission from Farris, 1985
Labs are offered in conjunction with large lecture courses
so that students may acquire technical skills and apply
concepts and theories presented in lecture. This hands-on
experience encourages them to develop a spirit of inquiry
and allows them to live for a semester as practicing
botanists, geologists, etc. It may sound trite, but you
really do have an opportunity to help students develop some
appreciation of the mysterious scientific method.
You needn't overwhelm them with Thomas Kuhn's theory of
scientific revolutions on the first day of class, of
course. In fact, to realize your full potential as a
laboratory instructor you'll have to recover some of the
neophyte's enthusiasm for mastering fundamental principles
and techniques of the discipline. Think of yourself as
wearing bifocals so that you can examine a problem from the
professional's and the student's points of view
simultaneously.
Safety
Procedures
Safety
takes on special importance when you are directly
responsible for the health and well-being of 25 or 30
laboratory students. Window-shattering explosions are rare,
but it is not uncommon for students to break beakers of
acid, cut themselves while inserting glass tubes into
rubber stoppers, or ignite a stack of lab notes with a
bunsen burner.
If your department's orientation does not cover safety
procedures, the professor or lab coordinator in charge of
the course will probably take responsibility for describing
departmental policies. During the first few weeks of the
semester you should demonstrate to students the proper
technique of decanting and mixing liquids, handling
glassware, organizing a work area, and using burners and
other equipment—all of the precautionary measures you now
perform almost unconsciously; your students, however, don't
have your experience and will, therefore, appreciate your
concern and advice.
Student
Preparation
Those
who have only a hazy recollection of the previous lecture
will follow directions mindlessly, but those who have
reviewed lecture notes and the lab manual will have some
understanding of the experiment's importance. Devise some
means to ensure that students are familiar with the lab
before they come to class. Some instructors feel that
grades on lab reports are incentive enough, while others
require students to submit a statement of purposes and
procedures or an explanation of why and how the experiment
is relevant to the course. Students who have no
understanding of why the experiment is important will
derive as much knowledge from conducting the experiment as
they would from spending a semester in the coffee shop.
Supervising
the Experiment
At the
beginning of the lab, review the purposes and procedures of
the experiment. You might deliver a brief but inspiring
lecture on how the experiment relates to current
developments in the discipline, or you might discuss the
students' statements of objectives. Ask for questions,
clarify any ambiguities in the lab manual, and demonstrate
special procedures now rather than interrupting the
experiment later.
If both you and your students are well prepared, you will
be free to perform your most important role, that of
guiding the students' development. Try to talk with each
student at least once during the experiment. Technical and
procedural matters can be handled quickly with a few words
of advice or a very brief demonstration. Your primary role,
however, is to help students master the steps of scientific
inquiry: recognizing and stating a problem, formulating
hypotheses, collecting data, testing hypotheses, and
drawing conclusions.
Helping students master each step is not an easy task. You
can tell students to "hold the stopper between your index
and middle fingers while you're pouring," but telling them
to "think better" or "remember what the professor said
about that yesterday" will not be very effective. There are
a variety of ways to help students solve problems for
themselves. Perhaps a scaled down version of the discussion
techniques described above tailored to the student and the
experiment would work. Or, perhaps you'll take the opposite
approach and make yourself available to ask rather than
answer questions.
However you approach this part of your task, refrain from
giving outright answers or advice. If lab partners ask,
"Why can't we get this to come out right?" try asking them
a series of questions which leads them to discover the
reasons for themselves rather than simply explaining why
the experiment failed. Of course sometimes the reason will
be relatively simple ("You used hydrochloric instead of
nitric acid"), but just as often the reason will be more
substantial—a matter of timing, sequence, proportion, or
interpretation. Perhaps the student had the necessary data
but has overlooked an important step in analyzing the
results or is unable to synthesize a solution.
It's very tempting to help students by saying, "Aha, I see
where you went wrong," but unless you resist the
temptation, they are likely to falter at the same stage in
the next experiment. Students may become frustrated if they
can't get a straight answer out of you, but they will also
learn more.
Teaching
in the Studio
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
Studio situations present their own significant problems.
Often, especially in performance areas, the role of
individual judgment becomes extremely significant and the
teacher has some hard questions to answer before the course
begins. For example, instructional objectives take on
particular importance when a teacher must consider whether
talented performers who do little work will be judged
equally as less talented performers who must work hard to
achieve the same level of performance. Although much will
vary depending on the precise instructional situation, the
following guidelines may help.
Performance classes need to be planned carefully. The
instructor is advised to determine in advance, and clearly
communicate to the students, how the importance of such
things as talent, level of achievement, attitude, effort,
and attendance will be viewed. One major dilemma is the
relative importance of process and product in the course.
Will the instructor feel the students have achieved the
course goal if they demonstrate an excellent process, even
if their final product is bad? Does the instructor care
just about the quality of the art work produced, or is s/he
equally (or more) interested in how the product was arrived
at? Such issues require serious consideration before the
syllabus is written. Whatever the decision, the instructor
is advised to make sure all students have an attainable
goal for the course, however much talent or inherent
ability they may have.
If process is of interest, the instructor needs to
determine some way that it can be measured, both for
evaluation and improvement, and build this into the course.
Other than personal observation and assistance, dancers or
actors might be required to keep a rehearsal log, or
artists may be asked to keep a journal listing the dates
and reasons for major breakthroughs in the project.
Instructors might give quizzes on readings or require
students to turn in rough drafts, plans, or outlines as
ways of documenting process.
When giving feedback, it is important to do so
constructively (this is particularly important when a
student may have a good deal of emotional investment in a
creative project). It is imperative to restrict criticisms
to things that students can do something about (this
restriction may require more conscious effort than the
instructor expects) and to help them overcome the barriers
that only appear insurmountable.
Instructors can work on recognizing potential. Some
students will be obviously talented in the studio area;
others will have abilities that have not yet surfaced. It
is the teacher's job to pull that talent out into the open
and not to make snap judgments.
It is especially easy in performance areas for a teacher to
take on the role of parent. While nurturing students is
obviously important, it is equally important not to be
patronizing about their achievements. Similarly, although
students may be fellow artists at a difficult point in
their careers, it is crucial to retain as much objectivity
as possible when it comes to their performances and not
become too emotionally or personally invested in their
creative growth.
Working
with Students in the Field
When
students are working in the field (as student teachers or
as interns, for example), the instructor is likely to see
them only rarely. The number one point of contact for the
student will be whomever is directly cooperating with them
in their external activity. Selection of this important
person needs to be made with great care and it is crucial
to enlist her/his full cooperation and to open the lines of
communication before the student is sent out. The field
contact should be made fully conversant with what is
expected from the student, the present level of the
student's ability, what methods of evaluation will be
employed (and who will be responsible for them), and other
details of the field experience.
Once again, it is particularly important to communicate
course objectives and methods of evaluation to students. It
is good to let them know how often someone will be coming
to see them (although perhaps not when) and what will be
looked for. The person who is working with them on a daily
basis is, of course, an appropriate person to offer help,
advice, and evaluative input.
Students with serious problems should know that they can
contact their instructor at any point in their assignment
without the contact being taken as an admission of failure.
It is appropriate for the instructor to initiate some
contact with students in the field from time to time. Doing
so could diminish the sense of isolation that they may be
feeling.
If the aim of a field visit is simply to watch the student
in action, the observer can try to minimize the effect of
her/his presence as much as possible. Inevitably, the
student will be more nervous and those participating in the
experience may also change their typical behavior. It is a
good idea for instructors to tell students that they
understand that this will inevitably happen. If the student
is in the field for an extended period, there will be the
opportunities to make several visits, thus making it easier
for the observer to encounter a typical student experience.
One also needs to be wary of creating a difficult climate.
Two evaluators who talk a great deal to each other during
the field exercise, for example, can be extremely
distracting to everyone who is participating. Similarly,
there is a danger of undermining the authority of the
person working in the field (once that has been destroyed,
it is often impossible to recover). Criticisms, for the
most part, are best delivered away from the field
environment.
SUMMARY
The
particular learning strategies and activities that are
selected for engaging students actively will depend on the
context of the specific course and student preparation with
which the strategies are employed. Given the wide variety
of strategies available, however, there are ways to pervade
every course with opportunities for students to become
actively involved in learning during class time.
In addition to increasing motivation and providing feedback
at crucial points, strategies that engage students help to
develop the competencies of reading, speaking, writing,
critical thinking, and problem solving that are marks of
the welleducated person.
LECTURING: THE PROS
AND CONS OF LECTURING
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992
Before trying to improve skills at lecturing, each
instructor must determine if the lecture approach is the
best method of teaching for the achievement of the
instructional goals of the class. Lecturing is very
appropriate for some goals and very inappropriate for
others.
Among the strengths of lecturing are:
• The speaker can convey enthusiasm for the subject (which
stimulates interest among students and can increase
learning), and can provide a role model of the scholar in
action.
• Lectures can convey material otherwise unavailable,
including original research or recent developments that
have not yet been published.
• Lectures provide organization, particularly for students
who read poorly or who are unable to organize print
material themselves.
• Lectures are a low-risk situation for students, in that
most of the activity is the responsibility of the
instructor.
• Lectures emphasize learning by listening, an advantage
for students who learn well this way.
Among the drawbacks of lecturing are:
• Students are largely passive in lecture situations, and
little feedback about learning is thus available.
• Lectures are not well suited to complex, detailed, or
abstract material.
• Lectures do not readily promote higher levels of learning
such as application, analysis, and synthesis.
• Lectures assume that all students are learning at the
same pace and at the same level of understanding, which is
hardly ever true.
• Lectures rarely sustain student attention, and tend to be
forgotten more quickly than more interactive lessons.
LECTURE PREPARATION
Adapted
with permission from Farris, 1985
Planning
a Lecture
When you
start to plan a lecture, first consider your audience.
Undergraduate students represent a broad cross-section of
backgrounds and skills, and as a result may arrive at
college with varying levels of competence. You neither want
to talk over their heads nor patronize them. You will be
more effective if you try as much as possible to draw on
knowledge they already have or appeal to experiences that,
by analogy, suit the topic.
Before preparing the lecture, ask yourself: How does the
lecture fit into the course as a whole? What are my
objectives? Do I want to provide the students with an
overview of the subject, give them some background
information, or provoke them into further contemplation?
Once you've decided that the nature of your topic is indeed
suitable for a lecture and considered both your objectives
and the knowledge level of your audience, you still want to
make sure that what you need to cover will fit within the
time allotted. A typical lament TAs have is: "There is so
much material and too little time." Good organization will
enable you to eliminate less relevant material so that you
may cover important points more thoroughly.
Generating
an outline
Once you
have determined your subject, formulate one general
question which covers the heart of it, one you could answer
in a single lecture. Take time to write it down and study
it. Then generate three or four key points which you could
develop to answer this question. Note these down under the
question. You are now beginning your lecture outline.
Filling
in the outline
Your
next task is to define the elements of your key points and
generate effective examples or analogies for each. Examples
generated "on the spur of the moment" in class tend to be
trivial; if prepared in advance, examples can both
illustrate a particular point and broaden students'
understanding of the subject. Think the examples through
carefully and consider ways to illustrate them with
chalkboard diagrams, slides, overhead transparencies,
demonstrations, or case studies, any of which can increase
students' understanding and interest.
Ways
to Begin
Having
prepared an interesting, detailed lecture, it is still
sometimes difficult to decide upon a way to begin
delivering it once you are in the classroom. Here is a list
of possible techniques for beginning a lecture, many of
which rely on some kind of "hook" to capture students'
attention from the start (adapted with permission from
Bailey, 1986):
• State a question which will be answered (or at least
better understood) by the end of the lecture.
• Pose a problem. The difference between this and stating a
question is that a question is typically a single sentence,
while a problem may require a paragraph or two.
• Give an example of the phenomenon to be discussed.
• Tell a personal anecdote or one about a friend or famous
colleague.
• Create a demonstration which illustrates the topic, or
puzzles the students.
• Provide a review of some previously covered material,
when directly related to and essential for understanding
the current lecture.
• Provide an overview of the lecture.
• State the objectives to be accomplished with the lecture.
• Tell a funny story or joke, if relevant to the material.
• Give the lecture a title.
Delivering
the Lecture
There
are a number of points to remember about the style and
clarity of your lecture presentation. We would like to make
the following suggestions to ensure that your lecture is
clear and well received (adapted with permission from
Cashin, 1985):
• Speak clearly and loudly enough to be heard. This may
seem obvious but undoubtedly we have all sinned against
this prescription. Perhaps in the very first class you
should suggest that people signal you if they cannot hear,
e.g., cup a hand behind their ear.
• Avoid distracting mannerisms, verbal tics like "ah" or
"you know," straightening your notes or tie or beads.
• Provide an introduction. Begin with a concise statement,
something that will preview the lecture. Give the listeners
a set or frame of reference for the remainder of your
presentation. Refer to previous lectures.
Attract and focus their attention.
•
Present an outline. Write it on the chalkboard, or use an
overhead transparency, or a handout. Then be sure that you
refer to it as you move from point to point in your
lecture.
• Emphasize principles and generalizations. Research
suggests that these are what people really remember—and
they are probably what you really want to teach.
• Repeat your points in two or three different ways. Your
listeners may not have heard it the first time, or
understood it, or had time to write it down. Include
examples or concrete ideas. These help both understanding
and remembering. Use short sentences.
• Stress important points. This can be done with your tone
of voice. It can also be done explicitly, e.g., "Write this
down; This is important; This will be on the test."
• Pause. Give your listeners time to think, and to write.
The
Conclusion of the Lecture
Adapted
with permission from Chism et al., 1992 McKeachie (1986)
says that in the conclusion of the lecture one has the
opportunity to make up for any lapses in the body of the
lecture. He also notes that encouraging students to
formulate questions by asking questions oneself can
facilitate memory and understanding. The prospect of
unanswered questions to be treated in future lectures
creates anticipation. Other possibilities include:
• Restate the main points (without cueing that it is a
summary) by using a new example, asking for the main
points, and showing where the class is now.
• Ask a student to summarize the lecture's key ideas.
• Restate what students are expected to have gained from
the lecture. Instructors can stimulate discussions and
increase interaction after presenting a lecture or large
amount of content by pairing up students and giving them
two to three minutes to react, respond, and raise questions
or issues about the material just presented. They can ask
for volunteers to report out what were the issues or
questions raised in their dyads.
A final point: Lecturers should not let their students
tyrannize them (through packing bags, talking, moving
around) into cutting the lecture short. Herr (1984)
suggests that instructors avoid verbal or behavioral cues
that habitually signal the end of class, such as gathering
notes or returning to the podium, and that they can prepare
remarks to refocus waning student attention, a friendly
reminder such as, "You have four more minutes for which you
have paid, and I shall end promptly, so just wait to grab
your backpacks."
QUESTIONING IN THE
CLASSROOM
Adapted
with permission from Hyman, 1980
By learning to handle questions effectively in the
classroom, instructors can accomplish a number of
interrelated goals. First, by engaging students in
dialogue, the usual "one-way" flow of information from
instructor to students is transformed into a more
interactive process. Second, encouraging students to ask
questions helps them become more active participants in
their own learning. Finally, skillful questioning by the
teacher can encourage students to engage in higher level
cognitive processes (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation),
thus helping to develop students' critical thinking
capacities. (For additional suggestions, see the section on
Discussions.)
Managing Students'
Questions
Strange
as it may seem, many college teachers are ill at ease when
students ask questions. For some reason they have not
learned how to field questions. Fielding refers to how a
teacher reacts to questioning in a broader sense than
direct response to questions; responding is but one
fielding option. The skill of fielding student questions is
vital for a teacher who wants students to think about the
topic of study; one result of student thinking is student
questioning.
If there are few student questions, it may be that students
are not attending to the teacher's remarks and not thinking
about the topic at hand. Alternatively, students may be
afraid to ask questions because they think they will be put
down. It is also possible that students do not ask because
they believe that the teacher doesn't want them to ask
questions. That is, the teacher somehow discourages
students from asking questions. This discouragement is
rarely explicit; few teachers actually say, "Don't ask me
any questions." (They may say, "Hold your questions for a
few minutes."). Generally the discouragement is implicit.
It comes from the negative way a teacher fields a student
question. For example: "We discussed that issue yesterday,"
or "That question is really not on target." Sometimes an
instructor will answer the student's question and then say
something like, "Where were we before we got sidetracked?"
After one of these negative fielding moves a student may
say, "I'll never ask another question in this class."
It is difficult to explain why teachers discourage student
questions in this way. However, some tentative reasons can
be offered. Teachers feel the need to be in control of both
the content and of the procedures in the classroom. They
feel that they need to "cover" the established course
content. Time is precious. There is never enough of it to
cover the material. Thus, they discourage student questions
because the questions may lead them away from their
material. Teachers also want to appear knowledgeable to
their students. Student questions may embarrass the
instructor who is unable to respond adequately. In short,
instructors fear that they may lose control or lose face if
students ask questions.
The potential for loss of control and loss of face is real.
It surely is possible for a teacher to go off the track and
appear to lack knowledge. However, it is also true that the
fear of this happening is overdrawn and the probability for
it to occur is low. The teacher must weigh the advantages
gained by permitting and encouraging questions against the
desire to maintain tight control.
Questioning Students
There
are several tactics suggested by the current literature
which may assist teachers in improving the use of
questioning in their teaching (adapted with permission from
Hyman, 1980):
• After asking a question, wait for a response. Do not
answer the question yourself; repeat it, rephrase it,
modify it, call on another student to answer it, or replace
it with another question until you have waited at least
three to five seconds. Students need time to think about
the question and prepare their responses. The research
indicates that with a wait-time of three to five seconds,
students respond more, use complex cognitive processes, and
begin to ask more questions. One word of caution is in
order here, though.
Sometimes when teachers reword questions because they
believe that the initial question is unclear, the result is
greater student confusion. Students may not know which
question to try to answer. In short, ask a question, wait,
and thereby express your expectation to receive a response
and your willingness to listen to it. Be patient.
• Ask only one question at a time. Do not ask a string of
questions one after the other in the same utterance. For
example, ask, "Compare the skeleton of an ape with that of
a human." Do not ask, "How are apes and humans alike? Are
they alike in bone structure and/or family structure and/or
places where they live?" A series of questions tends to
confuse students. They are not able to determine just what
the teacher is requesting from them. Napell (1978) states
that videotape replays reveal an interesting pattern when
the teacher asks a series of questions: "Hands will go up
in response to the first question, and a few will go down
during the second, and those hands remaining up will
gradually get lower and lower as the instructor finally
concludes with a question very different from the one for
which the hands were initially raised."
• When student questions are desired, request them
explicitly, wait, and then acknowledge student
contributions. For example, a teacher may wish to solicit
questions about the plays of Shakespeare which the class
has been studying. The instructor might say, "Are there any
questions or clarifications of points we have raised?" or
"Please ask questions about the main characters or the
minor characters, whichever you wish, at this point," or
"In light of Sally's allusion to Lady MacBeth, I invite you
to ask her to elaborate or clarify."
• Indicate to students that questions are not a sign of
stupidity but rather the manifestation of concern and
thought about the topic. Be very careful not to convey
subtly or even jokingly the message that a student is
stupid for asking for a clarification or restatement of an
idea already raised in class or in the text.
• Use a variety of probing and explaining questions. Ask
questions that require different approaches to the topic,
such as causal, teleological, functional, or chronological
explanations. Avoid beginning your question with the words
"why" and "explain," and instead phrase your questions with
words which give stronger clues about the type of
explanation sought. Thus, for a chronological explanation
instead of asking, "Why did we have a depression in the
1930's?" try "What series of events led up to the stock
market crash of 1929 and the high unemployment in the
1930's?"
• A variety of probes can also be used to stimulate
different cognitive processes.
For example, suppose that a student in a sociology class
has stated that a woman's most important role in society is
to be a mother. The teacher could probe that statement by
asking "Why do you say that?" However, it might be more
stimulating to ask the student or the class as a whole "If
you were Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, or Simone de
Beauvior, how would you react to that statement?" or "What
are the positive and negative consequences that arise
within a family when a woman devotes herself chiefly to
being a mother?" or "What actions would you expect the
government to take if and when it incorporates your idea
into its social and economic policy?"
REWARDING STUDENT
PARTICIPATION AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK
In
responding to student questions there are a number of
guidelines which can positively reinforce good student
responses and facilitate further discussion. (adapted with
permission from Hyman, 1980):
• Praise the student in a strong positive way for a correct
answer or response. Use such terms as "excellent answer,"
"absolutely correct," and "bull's eye." These terms are
quite different from the common mild phrases teachers often
use such as "O.K.," "hm-hm," and "all right." Especially
when the response is long, the teacher should try to find
at least some part that deserves praise and then comment on
it.
• Make comments pertinent to the specific student response.
For example, suppose that a student has offered an
excellent response to the question, "What function did the
invasion of the Faulklands serve for Argentina?" The
instructor might say, "That was excellent, Pat. You
included national political reasons as well as mentioning
the Argentine drive to become the South American leader."
This response gives an excellent rating to the student in
an explicit and strong form. It also demonstrates that the
instructor has listened carefully to the student's ideas.
• Build on the student's response. If the instructor
continues to discuss a point after a student response, s/he
should try to incorporate the key elements of the response
into the discussion. By using the student's response, the
teacher shows that s/he values the points made. By
referring to the student explicitly by name (e.g., "As Pat
pointed out, the Faulklands' national political status
...") the teacher gives credit where credit is due.
• Avoid the "Yes, but ..." reaction. Teachers use "Yes, but
..." or its equivalent when a response is wrong or at least
partly wrong. The overall impact of these phrases is
negative and deceptive even though the teacher's intent is
probably positive. The "Yes, but ..." fielding move says
that the response is correct or appropriate with one breath
and then takes away the praise with the next. Some
straight-forward alternatives can be recommended:
• Wait to a count of five with the expectation that another
student will volunteer a correct or better response.
• Ask, "How did you arrive at that response? (Be careful,
though, not to ask this question only when you receive
inadequate responses, ask it also at times when you receive
a perfectly good response).
• Say, "You're right regarding X and that's great; wrong
regarding Y. Now we need to correct Y so we can get
everything correct."
• Say, "Thanks. Is there someone who wants to respond to
the question or comment on the response we've already
heard?"
These four alternatives are obviously not adequate to fit
all cases. Indeed, it is generally difficult to field wrong
or partially wrong responses because students are sensitive
to teacher criticism. However, with these alternatives as
examples, you will probably be able to generate others as
needed.
TEACHING OUTSIDE
THE FIELD OF SPECIALIZATION
Adapted
with permission from University of Nevada, Reno
If you are assigned to teach outside of your specialty,
you'll have to work to stay at least a week ahead of your
brightest students. Remember that you are not responsible
for knowing all the answers, so don't feel compelled to
apologize for your "lack of knowledge." If you cannot
answer a question or you have made an error, admit it, but
tell your students where they may find the answer or offer
to look it up ...and then do it (this is good advice for
teaching within your own field as well). University
students are usually forgiving in nature, but the one thing
they will not tolerate is subterfuge on the part of an
instructor.
PART 5: EVALUATION:
EVALUATING STUDENT PERFORMANCE
Adapted
with permission from Farris, 1985
Most TAs have some responsibility for grading student
performance (weekly quizzes or essays, mid-term or final
examinations, lab reports or term papers) and those with
considerable autonomy often assign final semester grades as
well. It is important, then, that you develop a sense of
academic standards as quickly as possible, explain them
clearly at the beginning of the course, and apply them
consistently throughout the semester. However, as you know
from your experience as a student, grading practices vary
considerably from one instructor to the next.
It will probably take a semester for you to strike a
comfortable balance between the "I'm tough—learn because
you respect me" and the "I'm compassionate—learn because
you love me" extremes of motivating students. Regardless of
the approach you take, students will not respect you or
your standards unless you provide them with the means to
meet your expectations.
DETERMINING
EVALUATIVE CRITERIA
Adapted
with permission from Farris, 1985
Students are very sensitive to grades and to the criteria
on which the grades are based: "Will this be on the test?
How much does the quiz count toward the final grade? Do you
consider attendance and participation?" Grading is a
thankless job but somebody has to do it, and you may as
well be prepared to answer these questions on the first day
of class; that means, of course, that you must have
answered them for yourself well in advance.
Before constructing an exam or assignment, you need to
decide exactly what it is you expect your students to
demonstrate that they have learned. Reviewing the
instructional objectives you established at the beginning
of the term may be a good way to begin. The first step is
to think carefully about the goals which you (or the
professor teaching the course) have set for the students.
Should students have mastered basic terminology and working
principles? Should they have developed a broad
understanding of the subject? Should they be able to use
the principles and concepts taught in the course to solve
problems in the field? The next question is how you can
best evaluate the extent to which students have achieved
these goals.
Perhaps a certain type of test will suggest itself
immediately (e.g. multiple choice, matching, fill in the
blanks, short answer, problem solving, or essay). If you
know what you want to assess and why, then writing the
actual questions will be much less frustrating.
TEST CONSTRUCTION
Objective
Tests
Although by definition no test can be truly "objective"
(existing as an object of fact, independent of the mind),
an objective test in this handbook refers to a test made up
of multiple choice, matching, fill-in, true/false, or short
answer items. Objective tests have the advantages of
allowing an instructor to assess a large and potentially
representative sample of course material and of allowing
for reliable and efficient test scoring. The disadvantages
of objective tests include a tendency to emphasize only
"recognition" skills, the ease with which correct answers
can be guessed on many item types, and the inability to
measure students' organization and synthesis of material.
(adapted with permission from Yonge, 1977)
Since the practical arguments for giving objective exams
are compelling, we offer a few suggestions for writing
multiple choice items. The first suggestion is to avoid
this testing style if you can. If it is unavoidable, there
are numerous ways of generating objective test items. Many
textbooks are accompanied by teachers' manuals containing
collections of items, and your professor or former teachers
of the same course may be willing to share items with you.
In either case, however, the general rule is adapt rather
than adopt. Existing items will rarely fit your specific
needs, so you should tailor them to reflect more adequately
your objectives.
Second, design multiple choice items so that students who
know the subject or material adequately are more likely to
choose the correct alternative and students with less
adequate knowledge are more likely to choose a wrong
alternative. That sounds simple enough, but you want to
avoid writing items which lead students to choose the right
answer for the wrong reasons. For instance, avoid making
the correct alternative the longest or most qualified one,
or the only one that is grammatically appropriate to the
stem. Even a careless shift in tense or verb-subject
agreement can often suggest the correct answer.
Finally, it is very easy to disregard the above advice and
slip into writing items which require only rote recall but
are nonetheless difficult because they are taken from
obscure passages (footnotes, for instance). Some items
requiring only recall might be appropriate, but try to
design most of the items to tap the students' understanding
of the subject. (adapted with permission from Farris, 1985)
Here are a few additional guidelines to keep in mind when
writing multiple choice tests (adapted with permission from
Yonge, 1977):
• the item-stem (the lead-in to the choices) should clearly
formulate a problem
• as much of the question as possible should be included in
the stem
• randomize occurrence of the correct response (i.e., you
don't always want "C" to be the right answer.
• make sure there is only one clearly correct answer
(unless you are instructing students to select more than
one)
• make the wording in the response choices consistent with
the item stem
• don't load the stem down with irrelevant material
• beware of using answers such as "none of these" or "all
of the above"
• use negatives or double negatives sparingly in the
question or stem
Essay Tests
Conventional
wisdom accurately portrays short answer and essay
examinations as the easiest to write and the most difficult
to grade, particularly if they are graded well. However,
essay items are also considered the most effective means of
assessing students' mastery of a subject. If it is crucial
that students understand a particular concept, you can
force them to respond to a single question, but you might
consider asking them to write on one or two of several
options. TAs generally expect a great deal from students,
but remember that their mastery of a subject depends as
much on prior preparation and experience as it does on
diligence and intelligence; even at the end of the semester
some students will be struggling to understand the
material.
Design your questions so that all students can answer at
their own levels. (adapted with permission from Farris,
1985)
The following are some suggestions which may enhance the
quality of the essay tests that you produce (adapted with
permission from Ronkowski, 1986):
• Keep in mind the processes that you want measured (e.g.,
analysis, synthesis).
• Start questions with words such as "compare," "contrast,"
"explain why". Don't use "what," "who," "when," or "list".
(These latter types are better measured with objective-type
items.)
• Write items that define the parameters of expected
answers as clearly as possible.
• Don't have too many possible answers for the time
available.
GRADING
Reading
50 papers or 200 essay exams presents special problems,
especially when all 50 or 200 are responses to the same
topic or question. How do you maintain consistency? You are
more likely to be thorough with the first few papers you
read than with the rest and less likely to be careful with
the comments when you are tired. To avoid such problems,
read five or six papers before you start grading to get an
idea of the range of quality (some instructors rank-order
the papers in groups before they assign grades), and stop
grading when you get tired, irritable, or bored. When you
start again, read over the last couple of papers you graded
to make sure you were fair. Some instructors select "range
finder" papers—middle range A, B, C and D papers to which
they refer for comparison.
Depending upon the number of students you have, you may
have to spend anywhere from five to twenty minutes on a
three- to four-page paper. Try to select only the most
insightful passages for praise and only the most shallow
responses or repeated errors for comment; in others words,
don't turn a neatly typed paper into a case of the measles.
Avoid the tendency of new TAs to edit the paper for the
student. Remember, also, that if you comment on and correct
everything, a student loses a sense of where priorities
lie. Do not give the impression that semicolons are as
important to good writing and to a grade as, say, adequate
support for an argument. (adapted with permission from
Farris, 1968)
In assigning grades to essay questions you may want to use
one of the following methods (adapted with permission from
Cashin, 1987):
• Analytic (point-score) Method: In this method the ideal
or model answer is broken down into several specific points
regarding content. A specific subtotal point value is
assigned to each. When reading the exam, you need to decide
how much of each maximum subtotal you judge the student's
answer to have earned. When using this method be sure to
outline the model (ideal or acceptable) answer BEFORE you
begin to read the essays.
• Global (holistic) Method: In this method the rater reads
the entire essay and makes an overall judgment about how
successfully the student has covered everything that was
expected in the answer and assigns the paper to a category
(grade). Generally, five to nine categories are sufficient.
Ideally, all of the essays should be read quickly and
sorted into five to nine piles, then each pile reread to
check that every essay has been accurately (fairly)
assigned to that pile which will be given a specific score
or letter grade.
Grading of multiple choice exams can be done by hand or
through the use of computer answer sheets available through
your department. If you choose the computer grading route
you must be sure to provide number 2 pencils for students
to mark answers on their sheets. These are usually
available from your department's main office. At the time
of the exam it is helpful to write on the chalkboard all
pertinent information required on the answer sheet (course
name, course number, section number, instructor's name,
etc.). Also remind students to fill in their university
identification numbers completely to ensure that their
answers will be properly graded by the computer.
RECORDS AND
DISTRIBUTION OF GRADES
Procedures
for grading and the distribution of grades to students will
most likely be negotiated with the professor teaching the
course. Many will have established procedures for the
distribution of grades, while others may leave it up to
you. When posting grades in any kind of public area
(outside your or the professor's office, for example) be
sure that students' names are not visible on the grade
sheets. Grades should be recorded by ID number rather than
by name. If the exams have been computer graded, the
printout you receive will include a sheet with ID numbers
and grades only, which is suitable for posting. Another
method is to record grades on the attendance roster,
photocopy it, and then clip out the section of names on the
sheet, leaving only ID numbers and grades.
Handing back papers or essays to a large class can be a
very time-consuming task.
Some instructors deal with this by leaving time at the end
of class to hand back assignments or tests, or they may ask
students to come to their office to pick up papers. The
latter alternative provides an opportunity for students to
get more personal feedback from you about their papers.
THE UNIVERSITY
GRADING SYSTEM
This
table shows letter grades and their corresponding grade
point equivalents. For further information and elaboration
of grading policies in your department, consult with your
supervising faculty member.
A = 4.0
AB = 3.5
B = 3.0
BC = 2.5
C = 2.0
CD = 1.5
D = 1.0
F = 0.0
I = Incomplete
W = Withdrawn
P = Passed