Lecturing on an Exam day
I have had a problem with exam days and introducing new material on the same day. The way the class is designed is 4 hours. Often I will need to test on the same day as a lecture (being an accelerated program we don't have many class meetings). If I lecture before the exam, nobody pays attention to the material because they're too busy worrying about forgetting exam info. So, I tend to exam first, and then hold the lecture last. It just seems, then, that they are all paranoid about the exam they just took and can't focus on anything else. What does everyone else do in this situation?
Larisa,
this is definitely a tricky situation. Is there any way to get a very quick score on the test so they can process that information & move on?
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
As much as possible, I feel that lecture and exam should be held separately not back to back. In most cases after exam students' concentration is finding out what they score on the exam and it is deficult for them to focus on the lecture.
Larisa,
I agree this is a all to common problem. The students just are not motivated and it does not seem to matter if its test first or second.
I find for me the best thing is to give the test first. Go over the test right away. Go into a discussion with the class. These seems to alleviate some of the students anxiety of what their grade may be. Give a 10 minute break. When we return, go into the new lecture.
I like the plan of this. I definitely think it would reduce the anxiety that they have after an exam. I've done it this way before and the "discussion" part actually turned into them gaining up on me and arguing over certain questions. In retrospect, I should have put my food down, but it really was quite an intimidating experience to have them bombard me all at once like that.
Patricia,
I like this idea as it helps to get the test out of the way, let them process that, take a break, refocus & move on.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I use Scranton exams. After the exam I am able to take 10 minutes and run the Scranton through to get them corrected. I immediately give the results to the students and have them ask questions and go over the exam. It takes a bit more time in the long-run but I find they are ready to focus on the new material I lecture on after the exam.
Michelle,
this is a great strategy when we have the students for a longer period of time. This provides that immediate feedback & also allows them to put this behind them & focus on the new information as you said.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I completely agree with this issue and it being a bit of a lose-lose. Accelerated courses force you to combine exams and lectures. I think you are doing it the better way: exam first.
I would do a longer than typical break between exam and the new material. This would give them a chance to eat, talk, and distance themselves from the exam. I would not offer to quickly grade their exams by the end of the class. All this would do is focus their attention on the exam even more.
Stephanie,
this is an excellent point & I like the proposed structure that you have here. The break helps put the distance & they can wait one day to see their grade.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
