FOCUS ON LEARNING
OPEN SPACE MEETING NOTES
June 1, 2011
Topic of the Meeting:
End of Semester Reviews
Meeting Initiator/Convener:
Iraj Mehrnia
Recorder:
Cath
Meeting Participants:
Sylvie Ferguson, Ronald Dowker, Spencer Craig, KenHill, Ramon Morales, Adam Prescott, Jen Yascheshyn, Mary Helen, Glen Barker, Tracey Marshall, Jay Fisher, Louise Boudreault, Annette Carla
Items Discussed:
· Students are requiring more than a review. They would like to be told what they should be doing. If there were a consistency amongst professors in terms of how to approach end of semester reviews, it would be better.
· The students may not be telling the full story. Perhaps there is no issue.
· A dummy exam was created by one professor – three out of forty five did the work – all of the other students required a review
· Another faculty realized that students are conditioned for this review in high school.
· We are not obliged to have a review.
· If I give them a review the questions will be similar.
· We should be assessing throughout the year in a manner similar to the final testing.
· I never schedule review – I tell them there is no review – when I get within two weeks of the mid term, if students feel they need a review, tell me. I list the 5 major discussions – one side of the board is empty – stuff that is not on the test – Faculty says I don’t need a review – if you need one – bring the specific items you would like covered. The first time they had nothing so I left the room – the second time they brought 15 items. It’s rare you get the same group more than once. There is an inconsistency. Some faculty give the students the exams in advance so that they can get a good rating on rate my professor.com
· We should be consistent
· In my first year I didn’t do a review and they did poorly on the test – I realized it didn’t work. At the end of the semester I asked if they wanted a review. I told the students they needed to tell me what they required.
· For my type of learners, I turned it into a game – an open book quiz – dean was in the class doing a review. The dean said why don’t you do that as your quiz? I used ppt and used the questions. I gave them more than what was on the test. I get to know my learners intimately and this really worked. If I want them to succeed and be a product of what I taught them I want to be sure they are ready. I’m not giving them the answers; I’m giving them the questions and presenting it in a meaningful way. Their study notes were the answers from the game – there were note takers. It’s a lot more manageable because I have a group of 30 – they got bonus marks and they were not informed on the bonus until the end. Bonus marks were based on amount of money at the end of the game. It was basically an open book test – 60 minutes to find the answer.
· The work “re-teach” is important – I refuse to “re-teach”. I’ve already done it once.
· I’m a slower learner and feel that it’s my due diligence.
· I share a similar strategy – I always set aside at least one hour for a comprehensive review with jeopardy. It’s not reteaching . I teach a real estate law – important for students to know the different tasks of lawyers – I have big cards and create a sorting competition – it’s a study group and a bit of pressure – it’s a great way of getting students comfortable with material
· We don’t need to do review in a traditional way – we can use study groups
· Knowing how to teach yourself is an important skill – at a certain level we need to step back and have students learn the skill of teaching themselves. If there are some kind of marks to get them to take responsibility.
· Learning is a process and it doesn’t have one way – there can be some evaluation based on self learning. If they can demonstrate to you that they can go away and demonstrate that they can learn outside of the class
Recommendations/Action to be Taken:
· Every program is different. I teach protocols for xray – students create their own chart and build their own review – it’s reflective of their past mark – so far it has worked well. Everyone was waiting until the last minute – I will now mark them on each so that they can create their own review – what is it, what’s your definition, create your own mechanism for your learning
· If we rebrand can we move ahead
· Expectations are given to students – if you don’t do your due diligence – ask me something – during a 3 hour review – if we’re not helping us along the way
· Half the stuff I learned – Create a review of what we did in August – I don’t remember half of it – Review is important in the classroom. We should acknowledge our learners
· Create a course summary – I focus on the process not the content – don’t leave a question blank.
· We agree to rebrand it as “Summary”
· In my industry you can have a notebook.
· Students hate me at the beginning – I lay out suggested rules – they never kick in the first class – posted on Blackboard and an email reminder of the rules – the expected expectations they should have from me and the expectations I should have of them – my role is to get them employable and keep a job – they figure I can get people out and working – they have to develop a learning ethic and it’s not my responsibility – I don’t schedule review but I almost always give one – I’ll be in my office if anyone wants a review – it’s an opportunity for them – the class rep approached me once and went over the material. Every lesson comes with a review in the application of the homework
· It doesn’t matter what I test you – everything is a progression for your career – not just this class or the next
· They’re so used to being told what to do that they concept of self responsibility – we will fail you unlike high schools.
· Ten minutes into review I give a break – those who want a break take one and don’t come back