Going to class, studying, reading--TO LEARN. Not just for a grade, but to actually acquire
knowledge and/or skills. How do I, as an
instructor, make that happen? I’ve been
asking that question for almost 30 years of full-time college teaching. I’ve yet to come up with a fail-safe,
satisfactory answer.
Obviously, “giving As” to motivate intrinsic learning is
not likely to work. (See last week’s
blog for my experiment with that strategy.)
Still, I never cease struggling with that question. If I really don’t want my students to learn,
why am I doing this anyway? (Please don’t
evoke the “big paycheck” or “easy job” argument—that will only instigate more
inflammatory blogs.) Obviously we do (I
hope) want students to learn, or we wouldn’t still be here.
I have come up with a few conclusions to the dilemma of
student learning (some of which are still tentative). I’ll offer up this one, for what it's worth.
Q: How many
psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one. But the bulb has really got to WANT to change!
Students are like these metaphorical light bulbs. They have to WANT to learn.
But I can’t “make” learning
happen. No teacher can. Learning is truly an “inside” job. I’m not sure I can even “facilitate learning”
(although I REALLY like that idea!).
Perhaps it’s safe to say I may be able to “facilitate learning” for those who
really want to learn.
I can’t change anyone, nor can I make anyone learn. So my cynical self says, “Why bother?”
My idealist self responds, “Because it makes a difference to
some!”
One of the challenges of teaching at a Community College
(or, in my experience, at any undergraduate institution) is that there is a
wide array of motivations as to why students attend. There are a number of teaching [entertainment]
strategies to engage students—for those
who really don’t want to be here. Many
of these are excellent. If students don’t
have the internal, intrinsic motivation to learn, by all means let’s do what we
can to “engage” them! But what I want to
address here is the “learning” part.
Many students “don’t
get it” the first time around. We
provide reading assignments, lectures, videos and feedback on assignments, but it’s
still clear that the lesson we’re attempting to teach, the learning we wish
would occur, is not happening. We assign a grade to that student’s attempt,
and that’s the end of the issue. (“See
ya next semester!”)
I've come to conclude that—often—I've been guilty of quitting
too early. Our “traditional” grading
system assumes that if they can’t do the paper right, can’t complete the quiz
or exam, can’t conduct the experiment correctly the first time, they
aren't learning (or don’t want to, or can’t).
[An exception to this is often writing instructors who not only permit,
but require, revisions and rewrites.
Why do we promote this for English and not for all the other subjects?]
We've bought into a mindset that learning is a PRODUCT, not
a PROCESS. And we evaluate students
based on that belief. Often this
frustrates the students (especially those with “mixed motives” about attending
college, but also those who really want to learn).
An alternative is for me to be a PART OF THAT PROCESS. What this means is not just giving
students feedback, but giving those who really want to learn and improve (for
whatever reason) the opportunity to do so.
So for the past few years I've given my students the
option of redoing almost ANY assignment (within a reasonable time frame—usually
a week from when I return it) with no penalty. I ask them to submit the original, graded
assignment with their re-submission (so I can see if the changes were merely cosmetic
or substantive). I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE them to “think deeper” in their re-do.
This is a totally optional activity. And I’m very clear to my students this is NOT
primarily about the grade FOR ME, but about their learning. I tell them I’m much more interested in the
expansion of their knowledge and skills than I am giving them a bad grade. Amazingly, not a lot of students take me up
on this. That’s their choice. But the option is there, on almost every
assignment. In most cases, if students
are motivated, I will allow unlimited rewrites until THEY are satisfied with
their work.
There is a definite downside to this. More
grading. UGH. I LOVE most aspects of teaching, but grading
is without a doubt the worst part of my job.
However, more times than not I find that grading re-submissions is quite
rewarding.
Like the metaphorical bulb, it’s definitely FUN to see the
light go on.
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