TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION

I recently had the great honor of being one of eight speakers at the annual TEDxYouth@RVA program at the Collegiate School here in Richmond, Virginia.  I was asked to discuss a topic I was passionate about so, naturally, I chose Transformative Education.  Many thanks go to Rhiannon Boyd and her team (including about 18 senior students at the Collegiate School) for all their help and for creating such a wonderful event.  I can hardly wait until next year so I can go back and sit in the audience and just listen.

Here is my speech.

**

I have a quick announcement.  Tomorrow is my birthday.  I will turn 77.  I suspect some of you might think turning 77 sounds old.   But, I’m here to tell you that, if you take care of yourself and if you are lucky, the late 70s can be a fabulous time to be alive.  For one thing, all those years give you a wonderfully unique perspective of life.

As a result of that longevity, I am currently in my 54^th year as a college professor.  54 years!   How could anyone have the same job, day in and day out, for more than half a century?  That’s an easy question for me to answer.

I am a true believer in the importance of education.  More precisely, I’m a strong advocate for education that is transformative.  Every semester, students come into my class over at the University of Richmond and we work together for14 weeks.  If I do my half of the work and the students do their half, the transformation is amazing.  The difference between those students on the first day of the semester and those students on the last day of the semester can be breathtaking.  I very much want them to obtain extensive knowledge about a wide array of topics, but it is more than that.  Just as importantly, I want every student to learn to think more deeply and more critically.  Guiding that transformation is a splendid way to spend a life.  If you have not yet chosen a career, I would urge you to consider becoming a teacher.  The world needs more excellent teachers.

For transformative education to work, it must start as soon as possible.  On the first day of every semester, I explain to my students that I want to work with them as a team to create the greatest educational experience of their lives.  However, I need to help them envision the type of teamwork I want.  So, I talk about dancing.  My wife and I love to dance.  We go to parties and weddings just to dance.  Although I teach accounting, I talk with my students about how two dancers can work together to create something that is spectacular.  If you are older, you might recall Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.  If you are younger, you might think about John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the movie, Grease.  Look those couples up on YouTube and you will see dancing that will blow you away.  The couples work together as a team and create a dance that is full of energy, life, enthusiasm, and joy.  In the same way, I want to work with my students as a team to create a class each day that is full of energy, life, enthusiasm, and joy.  Fred and Ginger couldn’t produce that magic by themselves.  They had to work together.  If my students and I work together, we can create that same type of magic.

Therefore, on that first day of class, I pledge to my students that I will do my half of the work, not just now and then or when I’m in the mood but every single day, but I expect them to do their half of the work as well, not just now and then or when they are in the mood but every single day.  If we both hold up our end of that partnership, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. 

I never lecture.  I give my students all the questions in advance and when they walk into the room I start asking them questions.  I ask one and then another because I want to create a dialogue.  In this way, we can avoid “memorizing solutions” or “taking notes on solutions.”  I want them to learn to “figure out the solution.”  That’s where the magic is.

Why is this important?  What should you even care?

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”  I very much want to be part of that change.  You should want to be part of that change.  Most importantly for me, I want my students to be part of that change, and I believe that is where transformative education becomes essential.

How do we create education that is transformative?  I have thought about that a long time, probably 54 years.  I believe it all starts with teamwork so you and the students need to establish a solid foundation on which you can build that transformative education.  However, it can’t float in midair.  It must have support.  To create that foundation, I believe you must have four building blocks.  Transformative education requires teamwork and teamwork requires a foundation and four building blocks.

The foundation for transformative education is one word:  “trust.”   I must trust that my students will do their half of the work by doing what I ask them to do.  At the same time, my students must trust me to do my half of the work—to guide them, to treat them fairly, and to inspire them.  With mutual trust, we can produce miracles.

You can’t create trust by telling students “trust me.”  You must work to earn it.   That leads to the four building blocks. 

The first building block is communication.  Students cannot read my mind.  I certainly cannot read the students’ minds.  If you have no good way to communicate, then you have no way to lead and inspire.  Before the semester begins and then virtually every day during the semester, I email my students to tell them what I want them to do, why it is important, why it is interesting, and how I will help them achieve success.  I want no uncertainty.  I want no confusion.  But communication goes both ways.  I urge my students to email me or come to my office to let me know their problems, their ideas, their future, their suggestions. 

The second building block is ambition.  I don’t think Fred and Ginger would ever have become great if they had not had a burning desire to be great.  It doesn’t work that way.  The best thing about ambition is that I want my students to be so ambitious that they will push me to be a great teacher.  And, that I will be so ambitious that I will push my students to be great learners.  If you are not willing to push your partner to be great, you’re not ambitious enough.

The third building block is the investment of time.  We live in a society that seems to believe that people can accomplish great things by using shortcuts, so they don’t have to spend too much time.  That is utter nonsense.  John and Olivia would never have created those fabulous dances in Grease if they hadn’t been willing to practice for hours and hours.  If the team is not willing to invest sufficient time, then nothing special is ever accomplished. 

The fourth building block is preparation.  When I walk into class every day, I must be totally prepared, or I cannot do my half of the work.  When the students walk into class every day, they must be totally prepared, or they cannot do their half of the work.  Wishing and hoping do not create transformative education.  The Boy Scouts have it right, “Be Prepared.” 

Changing the world is a complicated process.  Learning an exciting dance is a complicated process.  Creating transformative education is a complicated process.  They all require teamwork, and that teamwork requires a foundation built on trust.  To create that trust you need four building blocks:  communications, ambition, the investment of time, and preparation. 

Tomorrow is my birthday.  I turn 77.  I very much hope you will celebrate with me.  At some point tomorrow, grab a partner, turn on a rock and roll radio station and dance as if you are ready to change the world.    

What Does the Word “Teacher” Mean to You?

Yesterday was the 10-Month Anniversary of releasing my new teaching book (Transformative Education) as a free download.  I did not want to hoard my ideas.  Instead, I wanted to encourage every college teacher (including myself) to become better.  I had already provided copies to my friends (both near and far).  I was not sure anyone else would be interested, but I hoped to get a few hundred additional downloads if I was lucky. 

Much to my amazement, Transformative Education has been downloaded 2,865 times over the past 10 months (without the benefit of an advertising campaign).  Mathematically, that works out to a new download every 2 hours and 33 minutes around the clock for the past 10 months.  I can only assume I have benefited from an awful lot of word-of-mouth messaging.  If that was you, thanks a million for the help.  I am truly grateful. 

I am convinced that most college teachers want to get better.  You can do that.  It is not an impossible dream.  It starts with thinking and experimenting.  That is my central message.  Here is the URL for the free download.

https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/

Below I have cut and pasted in the first 779 words of Transformative Education.  Those few paragraphs will take you about 4 minutes to read.  At the end, you will either say, “I’d like to read more and see what ideas this guy has,” or you will say “This is just not my style.”  If you want to read more, the link is waiting for you.  If these 779 words don’t intrigue you, go find something else to read (I recently finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck and would recommend that novel highly). 

**

Teaching Is Personal.  Fair warning:  This book will be personal because teaching is such a personal experience.  Some books about teaching have a clinical structure like the description of a controlled laboratory experiment involving rats and mazes.  Those works can be quite beneficial, but my writings will sound different.  For me, improving the educational experience for every student is a personal goal, probably bordering on an obsession.  I want to encourage, guide, and assist college teachers in their quest to become better.  I never camouflage my mission. 

I do not want to overanalyze myself, but I suspect that my desire to improve as a teacher comes, in part, from my regret that I did not have better teachers in college.  A few were good.  Several were awful.  Most were average.  None were great.  I was frustrated that the bad ones did not try harder.  My parents paid a significant amount of their hard-earned money to a major university, but many of my teachers did not seem to care whether I learned one iota.  How could they settle for being mediocre at such a vitally important responsibility?  At 18, I did not understand their lackadaisical attitude.  I do not understand it any better now that I am well past 70.

I simply want every student to have a legitimate opportunity to earn an excellent education.  I have a great appreciation for teachers who work hard to help students think, learn, and understand.  Our schools can achieve better, more in-depth results if teachers are both willing and able to assist students in maximizing their potential.  I am always distressed when I read of educational inefficiencies.  “At some of the most prestigious flagship universities, test results indicate the average graduate shows little or no improvement in critical thinking over four years.”  (“Many Colleges Fail in Teaching How to Think,” Douglas Belkin, Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2017).  Such failure should be unacceptable to every person involved with college education but also to our society as a whole.  Such indictments should lead citizens to mass at the college gates with torches and pitchforks demanding better from us.

An Opening Reading.  I grew up in a tiny mountain town in North Carolina and attended the local Southern Baptist church.  Before every service, the pastor or a member of the congregation would stand before the assembled group and read a few verses, usually from the Bible.  These words often served as the basis for the comments that were to follow.  At other times, the selected reading provided inspiration or helped listeners get into the proper frame of mind to receive the speaker’s message.

In this book, I plan to examine the day-to-day activities of teaching.  How can you improve the learning process in your classes, not in a year or two, but right now?  How can you better educate your students, not a few of them, but 100 percent?  Just as importantly, why does it even matter? 

Given my background, I want to open this book with a reading.  I have selected a few lines from Pat Conroy’s novel The Prince of Tides.  It tells the story of Savannah and Tom Wingo, twins who grew up in a dysfunctional family in the low country near Charleston, South Carolina.  The epilogue to this book provides the following interaction.  Savannah speaks first and Tom replies. 

She took my hand and squeezed it.  “You sold yourself short.  You could’ve been more than a teacher and a coach.”

I returned the squeeze and said, “Listen to me, Savannah.  There’s no word in the language I revere more than teacher.  None.  My heart sings when a kid refers to me as his teacher and it always has.  I’ve honored myself and the entire family of man by becoming one.”

Conroy died in 2016 after a prolific career.  I doubt he ever wrote other words that were better than these.  I am not here to judge, but if Tom’s response does not pull your heart into your throat, then reading my book is probably not a good use of your time.

Why are you reading this book?  What do you hope to gain?  When you read the above conversation in Pat Conroy’s novel, is it more than just mere words to you?  Is the message personal?  I will provide you with scores of ideas and suggestions that I believe can lead to improved education.  The goal is simple.  I want teachers everywhere to get excited about their careers, about the effect they have on so many college students.  I believe that you can become a better teacher and with work eventually a great teacher.  My advice is simple:  Go for it!

**

Thanks for reading this far.  Now, it is up to you as to whether you read more.  That seems fair.

One additional message.  I have a podcast titled Transformative Teaching – Stories That Inspire.   It is available wherever podcasts are available.  I have two episodes already up with three more in process to be released soon.  I hope to do 5 or 10 more over the summer.  They are each about 10-15 minutes in length.  I hope you will tune in.  

SIX STEPS FOR CREATING A BETTER LECTURE

Just a reminder that my new teaching book (Transformative Education – How Can You Become a Better College Teacher?) can be downloaded for free (for FREE) at the University of Richmond Scholarship Repository.  Since being issued a few months ago, it has been downloaded more than 2,600 times. 

          https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/

And, if you want to read about the book, here is a story from Inside Higher Ed. 

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/academic-life/2023/08/30/why-one-professor-makes-time-take-classes-himself

**

Summer is here!!  It is a time for resting, of course, but also an opportunity to reflect on how you can become a better teacher.  I want to present one thought today that might be worth pondering over the summer break as you plan for your classes in the fall. 

I am currently taking an online course on British literature.  This week, the professor was discussing Shakespeare and made the obvious observation that we all have trouble following the words that we hear in those plays.  The professor then explained (more than once) that until the last 100 years or so people were much more adept at listening for information than they are now.  Today, most information comes in through our eyes, but in Shakespeare’s day few people could read and even those had little material available to read.  A vast majority of information was conveyed orally.

Thus, over the centuries, people became well trained in listening and comprehending.  Storytelling, as in the works of Homer, served as a primary form of entertainment for thousands of years.  People sat around in the evening and listened to stories for hours.  A sermon in a Puritan church could last up to five hours.  In the Lincoln-Douglas debates, one candidate spoke for 60 minutes.  Then the other responded for 90 minutes before the first person used the final 30 minutes as a conclusion.  Could you imagine a debate today where the contestants talked for three solid hours?  The audience would be lost.

The professor’s point is that much of current humanity has lost the knack of careful listening.  Today, after a mere 15-minute sermon, an after-dinner talk, or a graduation speech, audience members often are unable to recall one memorable fact.  Many college teachers (although certainly not all) use lecturing at least some of the time.  How should we deal with our students’ inability to listen well?  They are not bad students.  Our society has simply moved away from an intense need for careful listening.

When I raise this question to faculty, they sometimes respond that they expect their students to take careful notes of what is being said.  I often refer to this as “learning through stenography.”  Students are not so much learning as they are transcribing (and then memorizing).  After middle school and high school, many have clearly become talented at the task.  Every semester, I have students who literally write down each word I say.  However, if I ask them a question, they are often unable to tell me a single thing I have said.  They are writing but not listening.

Teachers need to acknowledge the environment that they face.  A smart football team will play differently in the rain or snow than it does in sunny weather.  The coach helps them adapt.  Teachers need to recognize that keen listening is not a skill that many people under the age of 100 possess today.

I define lecturing as doing more than 50 percent of the talking because that indicates a majority of the information is coming directly from the teacher. 

If you are going to lecture, I believe it is essential to structure that process carefully to help your students listen and retain the information effectively.  Here are six suggestions that I think can help.

1—Start by letting your students know what you are planning to convey.  What is the end-message you want them to understand?   Without guidance, listening to a lecture can feel like walking through a forest path with no idea of where you are going.  Consequently, as the listener wanders along, it is hard to judge what is important.  For example, in one of my classes, I might start by informing my students, “I want to explain the three reasons a manufacturer who is a lessor would prefer a new lease contract to qualify as a financing lease.”  That one sentence provides several learning clues (manufacturer, lessor, prefers a financing lease) that the students can watch for as my story unfolds.

2—Include numbers as often as possible.  “Here are three examples.”   “Here are five rules.”  “Here are two exceptions.”  That clue provides each listener with an organizational structure.   Once again, the listener is being guided.  “Over the next few minutes, I will discuss debt instruments and there will be three primary types.”  You are enlightening the students as to what they should listen for as you lead them along the path of your topic.  (The next time you go to a graduation ceremony see if the speaker begins with, “I want to suggest three things you should achieve after graduation.”  If some type of guidance like that is not provided, you may be in for a rambling speech.)

3—Start each new section of the lecture (maybe every 5 or 10 minutes or so) by posing a question.  Then, carefully work your way to the answer.  When I give teaching presentations, I often create a short PowerPoint presentation that is no more than five or six slides, each containing a single question.  I pose the first question to my audience (hopefully to get them intrigued).  Then, I spend the next few minutes explaining my response to that question.  Who should care about this question?  What are the key elements we should investigate?  How do we begin our quest for an answer?  A good introductory question sounds like a mystery, and everyone loves a mystery.  (“Why in the world would a company even care whether interest expense was judged to be an operating cash flow or a financing cash flow?”)   With a starter question, both the teacher and the audience automatically know the purpose of the next part of the lecture.

4—When you write and then repeat something, it seems like wasted words.  When you write and then repeat something, it seems like wasted words.  The first sentence continues to be visible so why would you need the second?  In an oral presentation, however, the words vanish as soon as they are spoken.  If a student is distracted for even a second or fails to hear a word, the logical framework being constructed is damaged.  A gap appears in the student’s understanding.  Consequently, redundancy is never a bad idea.  Obviously, no one wants to hear the same words repeated verbatim.  However, going over a concept and then providing a quick summary is never a bad idea.  Giving an example and then explaining how it relates to what you have just said should help your listeners keep up with the flow of the message.  Always keep the idea of “vanishing words” in your mind and you are less likely to rush through a topic.

5—Be very careful with the sequencing of your message.  Because the student might be struggling to follow along, you want to make sure you make the presentation as logical as possible.  If a speaker talks about the knee bone and then jump to the neck bone and then drop back to the ankle bone, the structure is not readily obvious to anyone but the speaker.  Thus, as you prepare for class, think carefully about the sequencing.  Which concept should be discussed first and what is the most logical aspect of the topic that should come second?  In my own preparation, I’m always amazed by how much time I spend on sequencing.

6—Provide the students in advance with a barebones outline of the upcoming lecture.  Although they are popular with students, I am against providing extensive PowerPoint notes for three reasons.  First, it is just a different version of conveying information for them to memorize.  You are merely doing the transcribing for them.  Second, I don’t want to spend my time typing up those notes.  I have better things to do than be a typist for my students.  Third, once typed, the notes have a tendency to become frozen over time.  I like for my classes to evolve each semester as my thoughts about various topics change.  Typed notes have a way of becoming permanent notes.  Instead, a quick outline just to show (visually) the structure of the coverage and how you are moving from one step to the next can be helpful and not take that much of your time.

I hope this helps.  Simply recognizing how difficult it is in 2024 for students to listen and comprehend a 50-75 minute lecture will make you more aware of the need to help them.  Remember this is not 1606 when Shakespeare wrote MacBeth.  Students at that time were probably better prepared to listen to a lecture and understand it without prompts or assistance.  Times have, indeed, changed and it is important to acknowledge that. 

WHAT DO COLLEGE STUDENTS REALLY WANT FROM THEIR TEACHERS?

Just a reminder that my new teaching book (Transformative Education – How Can You Become a Better College Teacher?) can be downloaded for free at the University of Richmond Scholarship Repository.  The book has been downloaded (on the average) every 2 hours and 47 minutes since being made available on August 23, 2023.

          https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/

In addition, I have started a podcast that you can listen to wherever you go for your podcasts.  It is titled, Transformative Teaching—Stories That Inspire.

***

As I travel around speaking with college teachers, I often hear a lot of cynicism.  “Students don’t want to work.”  “Students don’t want to be pushed.”   “Students don’t want to think.”  “Students are only interested in grades especially if they don’t require effort.”

Last week, I decided to see if those assertions were true.  Do my students prefer an easy experience?  To find out, I assigned them to write a paragraph describing their best college teacher so far in their educational journey.   I asked them to tell me who had been their best (not favorite, but best) teacher and why they made that choice.

The only rule was that they could not choose me.  At 76, I hope I am not in need of obsequious flattery.

The assignment was not graded.  The students received no credit.  (I will explain the rationale for the assignment at the end of this post.)   I just asked them to write a paragraph.  In response, most of them wrote several paragraphs if not pages about one teacher or another and why that student found the teacher so inspiring.  

Here are several very typical examples of the descriptions that I received.  IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A BETTER TEACHER, LOOK FOR THE WORDS AND SENTIMENTS THAT GET MENTIONED MOST FREQUENTLY.   You'll be surprised by how much this tells you about what students want.  

Try this with your own students.  They will literally tell you what they prefer in a teacher.   They will provide you with excellent guidance.  Because of confidentiality, I have disguised the identity of the professors and their courses.

“(Professor X) turned what could have been a boring class into a class I will never forget.  …  Not only did (Professor X) make these classes more fun and interactive, but she also gave really good feedback on every single little assignment I turned it.  I could tell she was passionate about the material she was teaching, and she was also passionate about her students learning and improving.”

“(Professor X) has had a great impact on my academic journey and career goals.  He teaches in a way that ignites a sense of enthusiasm for (the subject matter), transforming what could have been mere coursework into a genuine passion.  He organizes and presents complex information in a digestible manner.  He is dedicated to facilitating comprehension while simultaneously fostering an environment of active learning.”

“I loved every moment of her class.  I attribute this to how interactive she made every single class.  …  Additionally, she cared for every student.” 

“(Professor X) held review sessions every Sunday before our weekly quizzes and refused to leave until every student was confident in their ability to get an A the following day.  Each day that I walked into his class I was excited to learn something new about (the subject matter) and apply it to the real world.”

“His enthusiasm ignited a newfound interest in exploring (the subject matter) from unconventional angles, sparking my own interpretations and theories.  Over time, I eagerly contributed to class discussions and developed the ability to articulate my thoughts effectively.  …  Remarkably, what began as a compulsory course evolved into a transformative experience, reshaping my attitude toward (the subject matter).”

“The assignments in the class are fun to complete and have helped me to retain the concepts far better than if I had just read them on a powerpoint.  It is also apparent that she loves what she teaches and as a student it is obvious when a professor does not love the subject they teach and it reflects in their teaching.”

“Rather than just lecture and have us do readings about what it is like to be of a certain demographic in the United States, she sent us out into the greater Richmond area to witness it ourselves.  …  She taught us how to expand our view on the human condition and to use our time wisely.”

“(Professor X’s) never-give-up attitude turned what could have a stressful class into a fun learning experience.  Instead of spoon-feeding us, he’d give us just enough info in his notes to figure things out on our own.  Under his guidance, I not only nailed (the subject matter) but also learned a ton about bouncing back from setbacks.”

“He fostered an environment where students actually learned.  Many college classes have become rote memorization and regurgitation.   As a student who does not enjoy writing, (Professor X) found a way for me to grow as a writer and enjoy doing it.” 

“This class truly challenged me to think differently.  It allowed me to understand what the true reason for coming to college is.  I was challenged not just to take basic notes in class, but to question the readings we did to succeed.  …  (Professor X) was an important figure in my college career as he pushed me to understand what a college education should really look like.”

I could include many more excerpts but I suspect you get the point.  What descriptors do you notice being used by these students:  caring, enthusiastic, exciting, passionate, interactive, transformative.  Students certainly do know when a teacher is having a positive effect on their lives and appreciate what they are getting. 

Want to be better teacher?  Here's an idea.  Pick one of these characteristics that appeals to you and work to be better at it.  Make it a constant focus.  Don’t try to be all things to all students.  Pick one positive characteristic this semester and spend some time thinking how you can be better at it.  Your students will appreciate the effort.

**

One final thing.  How did I justify this assignment to my students?   I asked the students to spend their time picking their best teacher and writing the paragraph.  I did not want to waste their time.  Because I did not want to influence their selections, I told them that I would explain my reasoning after the assignments had been turned in.  I felt they deserved to know.  Here is what I wrote to them.

“In a couple of years, you will be out of college and, more than likely, in an adult job.  It is not a long time.  I would love for you to be just as successful in your career as you want to be.  I truly want you to succeed or I wouldn’t waste my time pushing you so hard in this course.

 "You will need to know (the subject matter) in order to succeed in the world after college no matter what you eventually do.  You don’t have to be an A+ student, but you do need to know a good amount of (subject matter) knowledge.  However, I am convinced that each of you will leave this class with, at least, a decent understanding of (the subject matter).   No one this semester seems intent on not learning.

"But, you need more than a knowledge of (subject matter) to succeed.  You need to know how to be a leader, because before you know it, you will have 1-4 people reporting to you and then 10 and then more and more.  Success goes beyond mere knowledge.  It is also about leadership.   In fact, the ability to be a good leader might be the key ingredient in success.

"You have had many teachers over the years.  In my mind, teaching is about leadership.  The teacher takes a group of students who might not actually want to learn and marches them to a goal of actual learning.  I gave this assignment because I wanted you to think about how those teachers manage to do this.  How do those teachers lead a class into doing what works best for them?  If you can figure out their magic, it will show you a type of leadership that works and, maybe more importantly, shows you a type of leadership that appeals to you.  Most people become a type of leader that resembles what they themselves like. 

"I want you to think about (the subject matter) and come to understand it all.  Trust me on that.  But, I also feel that developing leadership skills will be important if your career is going to be what you want it to be.  So, think about the paragraph you wrote and what you can learn from it about leadership – literally from your own words."

**

In case you want to hear more of my thoughts, I recently appeared in the 514th episode of the fabulous podcast, Teaching in Higher Ed.   Here is the URL:

https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/transformative-education-lessons-from-more-than-50-years-of-teaching/

 

TESTING IN COLLEGE

I received an email question recently from a professor at Rutgers about testing.  What students think about their teacher is heavily influenced by how well the testing and grading process is managed.  Here is an edited version of my response to him.

In my new (free) teaching book (Transformative Education), I talk about testing and grading as the last of the four essential points in my "Education Diamond."  It cannot be an afterthought but rather a key part of building a successful learning experience for your students.  Anything that students think about as much as they focus on testing and grading needs to be taken very seriously.   All tests should be motivational.  They should be fair.  They should serve as a warning.  They should be challenging.  They should not be impossible. 

I do not use test banks.  Anything as important as a test should not be turned over to some stranger who does not know your goals or your students.  I know learning to write good questions is hard but with a bit of practice you can become an expert.  Have some courage.  Write your own questions. 

When my students walk out of the classroom following a test, I want each one to think, "Those were reasonable questions.  If I had done everything Professor Hoyle had suggested, I would have done well.  The test was not easy, but it certainly was not impossible."

When I create the tests, I have several rules that I explain to my students.  Clear communications are an essential part of my class.

--Anything we cover in class is subject to being tested.  Conversely, if we did not cover a topic in class, it will not be tested.  If it is not important enough to mention in class, it is not important enough to test.

--In writing test questions, I try to make 1/3 of them very challenging.  I call these “A-level” questions and they focus on critical thinking.  I want to measure the true level of understanding that a student has attained.  Another 1/3 of the questions are “B-level,” they require understanding, but the level is not as in-depth.  The final 1/3 (the “C-level questions”) are easier—more inclined to require memorization and less in need of a deep understanding.  After five decades, I have found that having three levels of questions is the best way for me to assess each student’s actual understanding of the material.

--Each question must be tied to something we did in class.  The tests and the class must be connected.  As students read the questions, I urge them to identify that connection and consider what we did in class.  I also suggest that they write down potential questions immediately following every class to consider how topics might be tested.  When the test comes around, that list is extremely helpful in spotting the topics we have stressed.

--Each test question requires careful reading.  Students are often nervous and will tend to skim questions and then be shocked when they make silly mistakes.  I urge them to take a deep breath and read the questions carefully and completely before jumping to an answer.  Underlining or highlighting are helpful.

--In writing the questions, I do not have the best student in mind nor the worst student in mind.  I usually aim my questions at the student who is about 1/3 of the way down the list of students, a student who typically makes a B or a B+.  If your overall test aims too high, you really do leave a lot of good students feeling stupid.  If your overall test aims too low, many students will make an A without deserving it. 

--Almost without exception I do curve every test.  It seems to me that it is my job to decide the difference in “excellent” work (an A) and “good” work (a B) and “average” work (a C).  I correct every test and then line them up from top to bottom.  I identify what I believe is the lowest “excellent” test and what is the lowest “good” test and what is the lowest “average” test an then I create a curve to establish that as their grade.  Some of the curves are rather convoluted but that happens less often than you might think.

--In my classes, 15 to 30 percent of the students make an A.  I don’t intend for that to happen, but it seems to result on a consistent basis.  “Excellence” is not easy to achieve in life.  I realize grade inflation is prevalent, but if you explain that you are looking for excellence, most students know in their hearts whether their work has truly been excellent.  I have said this before but giving an A for work that is less than excellent actually hurts the student and sets a bad tone for the class.

--I provide an answer sheet that I email the students immediately after the test.  At that moment, most students are keenly interested in how they were supposed to answer questions.  I want to take advantage of that interest.   Also, by typing up the answer sheets in advance, I find typing errors and questions that are easier or harder than I had expected.  I can fix a lot of testing issues in advance by typing up the answer sheets.

--Occasionally, I write tests where I give the students all the questions in advance but with specific variables omitted.  For example, I might write, “Use XX interest rate for this problem and assume a life of XX years.”  What I have found in such cases is that the test becomes a real learning experience.  Students work twice as hard preparing for a test when they have a valid idea about the nature of the questions.

--I tell students that I will always be glad to talk about their tests and how to improve.  However, if they want to argue a test grade for any reason, they have seven days.  I don’t want a student coming in two months after a test wanting to dispute a test question that I can barely remember.  I don’t mind a student arguing a test grade.  It is their grade forever.  They have a right.  However, they must submit their dispute in a typed form.  I usually take several weeks to respond because I want to take my time.   Whether I add points or not, I type up my response to explain what I did and why.  By formalizing the process, I have found that students only dispute a grade when they truly believe they have a valid argument.

--To try to keep students from getting too stressed out, I refer to my first test as “Spring Training.”   It does count but it is primarily a chance to see how well they are progressing and what adjustments they might need to make.  I want learning.  I am not trying to create undue stress.

--About 24 hours after my first test of the semester, I send out an email that I title, “When you get your first test back, if you are not happy with your grade, here are some suggestions on what to do.”  I then give them as many suggestions as I can.  At that point, many of them need some guidance.  For many years, I have argued that the few days after the first test is the most critical moment of the semester.  Almost immediately, students tend to start getting better or getting worse.  As a teacher, take control of those days and push the students in the direction that you want. 

I could probably talk forever about testing and grading.  But, I’ll leave you with one last comment.  I want my students to learn to develop their critical thinking skills.   I tell my students that all the time.  However, if I don’t test the development of those critical thinking skills, the students will simply assume that what I really want is for them to memorize the material.   Keep that in mind as you write those tests.

As always, if you want a free download of my new FREE teaching book (Transformative Education), it is available at the following URL.  In addition, if it is helpful, please share that URL.  Educational ideas should be shared and not hoarded.  (Thanks to so many people sharing the URL, the book has been downloaded on the average every 3 hours and 50 minutes every day for the past 136 days.  That is a lot of people working to become better college teachers.  THANKS TO ALL.)

https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/375/

ADDED LATER:  POP QUIZZES

After reading the above essay about testing, a professor at Troy University asked for my opinion about pop quizzes.  As everyone probably knows, I am not shy about giving my opinion about anything and everything in college teaching.

I believe it was the spring semester of 1982 and I decided to start giving pop quizzes to one particular class because I really wanted the students to come to class well prepared.  I am a strong believer in experimentation so that was simply an experiment.  I never did it again.  That probably shows what I thought of my results.  Why have I not returned to pop quizzes?

 --For the entire semester, the class had a tension to it that I did not like.  The students arrived every day wondering whether “today is the day.”  Tension is not necessarily bad for a class, but that type of tension seemed counterproductive.

--On days when I did give a quiz, the class always did poorer after the quiz.  The five-minute quiz got their maximum attention and, when it was over, they exhibited little interest in the remaining conversation.  It was like they had run a 100-yard dash and needed to rest.

 --The students became too interested in gambling.  They would assess the odds each day of a quiz and adjust their study accordingly.  I wanted them to be well prepared every day and not just on the days when they suspected a quiz. 

--However, my main reason for abandoning pop quizzes was that the only reason to do them was to push students to prepare for class.  I believed that I could get them to be prepared without holding the sword of a quiz over their heads.  In my book (Transformative Education), I write pages and pages about using puzzles (and, for me, cold calling) to encourage and intrigue students enough to be prepared.  I believe the biggest challenge in college teaching is getting students to prepare properly so I work very hard to create questions/puzzles that will intrigue them into being ready to be part of the conversation.   In fact, I sent my spring students their first puzzle three weeks before our first class just to pique their interest.

I am sure that some of my readers will have found ways to make pop quizzes a positive part of their class experience.  However, for me, it was a total negative and I have chosen to address the problem of preparation in other ways.