Student Directed Review
Summary
In this activity, I had students break out into groups of 3-5 students. Each group was given a whiteboard. The students were instructed to create a critical thinking question from the unit that they were currently studying...the digestive system. The group answered their question...erased their answer and all of the groups rotated their whiteboards to another group. The questions were rotated through each group. Once all of the groups had an opportunity with the questions, they repeated the exercise with a different set of questions. This activity continued throughout the entire class period.
Learning Goals
The focus of this exercise was multi-pronged. I wanted the students to be creative in the way that they tested their knowledge...the goal was create meaningful questions that would test their mastery of the material. If a group struggled, I would guide them in question refinement.
Through collaboration, the students were engaged in critical thinking and synthesis of ideas in regards to the digestive process and transformation of energy concepts.
What students most learned from this exercise was what they didn't know. By being tested by their peers in a collaborative fashion, the students were able to clearly delineate how well they understood the concepts of the unit. The students that participated int this activity had a test average 10.25 points higher that those that did not attend class that day.
Through collaboration, the students were engaged in critical thinking and synthesis of ideas in regards to the digestive process and transformation of energy concepts.
What students most learned from this exercise was what they didn't know. By being tested by their peers in a collaborative fashion, the students were able to clearly delineate how well they understood the concepts of the unit. The students that participated int this activity had a test average 10.25 points higher that those that did not attend class that day.
Context for Use
This activity was utilized in a 100 level introductory nutrition course. Most of the students had limited academic experience in the sciences and admitted to having some degree of science phobia. Before implementing this exercise, the students completed a 2 1/2 week unit on the digestive system. During that time, the students had opportunities to participate in group activities and problem solving exercises, therefore they understood the expectation of the review exercise. The special equipment required for this exercise are 4x4 whiteboards and classroom furniture that allows for clusters of desks
Description and Teaching Materials
I think I provided a clearly stated description above...
Teaching Notes and Tips
one of the things that I found handy was to have the groups create and answer their question and then I would ask them how they might expand on the question....it allowed the groups to think about the intent of their questions and how the question tested for concepts. It was fun to watch their question developing from knowing to understanding to expressing.
Assessment
I was able to compare test scores of those that participated and those that did not. As indicated above, I discovered that participants had a 10.25 points higher than those that did not participate. My testing population was quite small and therefore I intend to continue this activity for subsequent quarters to see if the results were meaningful or anecdotal.