Hi On Wed, 3 Nov 1999, Molly Straight wrote: > I am in my first year of teaching at a small private college. I > only have 3 students in my class! I just gave an exam on 2 > chapters and had a D and 2 F's. And this was a > computer-generated exam from the test bank that came with the > text! I had even given them a study guide, which I wrote after > I had made up the exam! 1. Meet with each student individually and go over the test to see why they chose the answers they did. See if you can identify any general problems with the students' thinking and/or the test (e.g., comprehension difficulties, preference for certain types of answers). You might also be able to do something like this as a class given how small it is. 2. At that same meeting, try to find out (without too much pressure and in a helpful way) how the students are doing in their other classes and how they did at high school. It may be that you will have to redress some longstanding problems. How much time did students spend studying? How did they study? 3. Find out what support services are available at your institution (e.g., are there non-credit writing courses?) and think about what you would be able to do yourself with reading, study skills, and writing. > One of the reasons I just joined this list and a few others, > was for ideas, support, and inspiration. So, Annette & others, > what do you do besides give a make-up exam? I don't really want > to do that. I do not have class time to spend on that. 4. Perhaps rethink how you are spending class time and whether it is realistic to cover everything in class given the students. Starting teachers often try to cover too much material, I think. Spend the time at what you think is in the best longterm interests of students. > I assigned an essay combining elements from both chapters, for > 15 points towards their exam grade (total of 60 points). They > had the weekend to do it. I feel I have to know that they > understand the material or else I cannot give them a passing > grade on the material. 5. Integration is a very difficult job. Have you been illustrating it in your lectures and showing how to do it (e.g., making outlines or other kinds of summaries and looking for similarities)? Did they do similarly poorly on this as on the in-class portion? > I have also been very disappointed in the quality of their > writing. What are they teaching in high schools, anyway? These > students were probably considered good students in high school. > So, I have had to lower my expectations of their writing or > they would all be failing! Other instructors there are having > the same problems. I was an undergraduate just three years ago > myself and I would not have dreamed of turning in papers of the > level that they are. 6. Provide specific instruction and feedback about the nature of writing. Illustrate making outlines or concept maps to organize ideas (can be integrated with cognitive material on semantic memory). Focus on some of the worst errors (e.g., incomplete or run-on sentences, lack of agreement, wordiness, inappropriate wording), and identify those in students' papers. Sometimes with small classes I will just indicate that there is _some_ error at a particular point without saying what it is and will give students an extra 5 or so marks if they return the essay with the error explained and/or corrected. 7. Get the students into problem-solving mode, thinking about their academic skills as they might skills in other areas. I sometimes use the analogy of sports or games. That is, to achieve higher levels of success you need to think more explicitly about and systematically practice effective techniques. Good luck. It is not easy to overcome the shortcomings of all students. Best wishes Jim ============================================================================ James M. Clark (204) 786-9757 Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax University of Winnipeg 4L05D Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED] CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark ============================================================================
