More about making students aware of whether they are motivated to learn.
Every assignment that I’ve created on Perusall now includes these two questions:
- What most interested you in Reading X?
- What most confused you in Reading X?
I’m hoping that this will help students who consistently answer “nothing” to (1) and “everything” to (2) will help them realize that they’re in the course for the wrong reasons.
I’m also devoting eight class sessions throughout the term to wicked problem exercises, but I’m going to hold students accountable for participating. For each exercise, every student will get a worksheet consisting of the following:
- What is my solution to the problem?
- What are the main points of the other team’s presentation?
- What is one strength and one weakness of the presentation?
- What is a question for the presenter?
I’ll collect these worksheets and mark them as satisfactory (full marks) or not (zero). Each worksheet is worth only 2 percent of the course grade, but students will need to pay attention to what’s happening around them to earn credit, which requires a minimal amount of cognitive effort. It should be plain to students that a worksheet grade of zero indicates that they weren’t willing to exert this effort.
Finally, I’m instituting a device-free classroom policy. Laptops, tablets, and phones will need to be out of sight and out of reach when students are in the room.* If students prefer staring at the wall to engaging with what’s happening around them, that’s their choice. They will see the effects of that choice in their grades.
I’ll be at the UACES conference in Prague. Dr. Susherwood, international man of mystery, will be leading a panel discussion — “I’m Sorry, Dave, I Can’t Do That”: How To Address The Use Of AI In The Classroom — on the morning of 9 September. Hope to see you there.
*Yes, I will make exceptions for students with documented disability accommodations, but I expect this to be a rare occurrence.