In large lectures, there is very little verbal communication between the instructor and the students. Although dental hygiene classes are often around 30 people, some people may still not want to speak up and ask questions. The muddiest point and one minute papers are ways for students to reflect on the material presented, without speaking out loud.
I do not want my students to feel like this:
Bogged down with questions. Not understanding new material. Not being comfortable enough to ask for clarification or expansion.
As stated in one of the UNC Center for Faculty Excellence paper, the minute paper is an active learning technique. It takes very little time, but allows for the instructor to evaluate their effectiveness and make changes if need be. In the same way, the muddiest point is designed to evaluate what parts of the lecture may have been unclear.
Another section of UNC’s article discusses the best times to engage students. Students are often more willing to pay attention and participate in the first ten minutes and the last five to ten minutes. It is best to present new information at the beginning of the class. This supports my idea of beginning classes with short lectures, presenting new material, and closing by reviewing material from the class.
In my classroom, I would combine the one minute paper and muddiest point. I may allow students to have about 5 minutes to free write, and give them prompts. I may ask them to point out 3 key facts from the new material, connect new material to previous knowledge, list 2 topics from the last week that remain unclear, etc. These writing activities will be great ways for me to possibly identify a common topic that needs to be further explained, or can help me identify what a particular student may need a little one-on-one attention.
The down side to writing activities.. I can think of a few. This is a completely self-guided activity, and involves a lot of thought on the student’s part. As an instructor, I can only take as much from the activity as the students give to me. If students do not put effort into the activity, it could hinder my evaluation of my whether I am being an effective instructor or not.
I know as a student, I was always anxious to get out of class as soon as I could. I would be afraid students could not see the benefit of these activities. However, as an instructor, I am confident that I could explain how it will help them and myself. I think after they receive feedback from the first one and realize it helps them, they will be more willing to put effort into it. One of the writing prompts could even involve what they like about the class and what they would change.
Student writing activities can help both students and instructors identify strengths and weaknesses. I will know if my activities are effective based on what students write and how they reflect their knowledge on exams and in clinic. I will feel successful if there is a common muddy point among many students in one lesson, and by the next activity, they can point out key facts of the same point. It is all about student learning.
Lauren,
I agree that learning through writing is an effective active learning strategy. Even though we have everything at our fingertips in digital format in this program, I still find myself writing out many things. Even though printing is faster, putting pen to paper and thinking through writing the concepts allows me to retain them better. I also like the muddiest point activity. Because teachers are proficient in the content they are teaching, they may have a hard time realizing where students are struggling. I really like the idea of students providing feedback to the teacher throughout the entire course, so changes can be made accordingly. I think this is more effective than an end-of-course survey, since the teacher has no opportunity to adjust.
Lauren,
I was (and sometimes still am) that student who is afraid to speak up about something I’m not understanding. I think your combination of a one minute paper and the muddiest point could be very beneficial in a classroom setting if students take the assignment seriously. I agree, students may be ready to hurry up and leave after a class is over and may not take advantage of expressing their thoughts, but I think, after they receive feedback from the first one, they will realize the benefit of the assignment. I also agree with Danielle, allowing feedback throughout the course would be more effective than an end-of-course survey.
Because of your post I would like to use both the one-minute paper and muddiest point techniques in my class. I think it is helpful for students to review and reinforce material, but it also provides instant feedback to you as an instructor. Based on the “muddiest points” students write down you can begin the next lecture with clarifying concepts if it is apparent that it needs to be reviewed. Compiling this information you can also change how you teach the material to the next class. I like how you include asking students to link new material with prior learning in your papers as well. This helps connect it all and encourages students to think deeper. You could also relate these two techniques to assessing student’s preparation or understanding of homework readings/assignments.
As you all learned last semester, there are many different learning styles, and I think your learning activity hits home for a read/write learning style. When in your classroom would you start the one-minute paper? Beginning, middle, end? What do your thoughts on grading the minute paper?
I think the time it is given would depend on the question. Sometimes it would not matter, but other times it would need to be at the beginning or the end. I do not know if it is a graded thing. I can see students putting in more effort if it was graded, but I think it would be more of just an evaluation process.