Report #4
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name Nancilyn Burruss
Date 12/9/09
FIPP Partner Traci Granger
Section #6019
Activity /Strategy Become an Expert to Learn to Study (without the Jigsaw)
Category V
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction Students really need to dig into their books and study for the final
exam. They wont do it without incentive and peer pressure. These are low
level students with poor study habits.
2. Set up & Supplies Students, instructor, text book
3. Directions Begin by deciding how many areas/topics are to be covered on the
final exam. In my case, there are 7 chapters that will be covered in 6 major
areas. Without explanation, go down the rows and have students count from
one through six, with each student getting a number. Be sure to keep a written
record of each student's number as they say it to avoid students changing
groups. Next, tell the students to bring a piece of paper, pencil, and their
textbook with them when you ask them to move. First, ask all the 1's to raise
their hands. Tell them to go to a certain area of the room and form a group,
getting each other's information. Continue that way until all groups are formed.
Next, go to each group and tell them what area of the textbook they will
become experts in. Let them know that they will need to give a class
presentation on their area and be able to answer any questions that may arise.
They need to be able to teach the rest of the class this information that has
already been taught to them. Continue to each group explaining what area
they will be experts in. They have one week to become an expert and need to
coordinate with their group members outside of class how they will teach this
information to others. I'm not expecting much in the way of presentations, but
the idea is to let the students know after they have prepared to be able to teach
the information that that is how much preparation and knowledge they should
have for every chapter before the test. I will explain to them that they know
they are prepared to take a test when they feel they can explain everything in
the chapters to someone else.
4. Conclusion I was surprised to see that the students put quite a bit of effort into
this project even though it was only worth 10 points. I ended up with a lot of
power points that cover the different chapters in the book. The students
seemed more engaged in final exam review and I was able to clearly see the
areas where the experts were still confused and needed clarification. I believe
that this has taught them more about how to study than if I had just had them
walk in expecting to be filled with final exam information. It put the
responsibility of reworking the information onto them. I am curious to see the
final exam results next week and if this had any impact on the success rate of
the class.
What worked well? It allowed even those students who have been outcasts in the class
to be involved with others in teamwork. Students had lessons outside of the classroom
in how to get teamwork to work and ran into issues with trying to get uncooperative
students to pitch in. I gave very open directions on purpose to allow students to use
creativity and problem solving, and I was surprised by their willlingness to help each
other out. The true leaders in the class really showed the others how to work on
something and allowed the others to share in the credit for the leaders' work.
What would you change? I would probably have just a bit more direction on my
expectations for each group by doing something like having them create a pop quiz on
their area of expertise. Although students said that they would have liked to pick out
their own group partners, I would not change this because it teaches them to work with
people unlike themselves and to get out of their little, comfortable, sheltered, intolerant
boxes. I might have them annonymously grade each other on effort toward the group
project as that always seems to increase participation on the free-loaders, and I know
there were a few because I had two students make comments about their partners.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Absolutely. It puts
responsibility for the learning on the student.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. Students seemed to respect some of their peers
more. Students learned how to study for a test and how much effort is really necessary
to understand concepts well enough to utilize them.