Student Guide Corner

Happy Holidays!!!   I hope this semester has been wonderful, one where your students were inspired to think deeply and find joy in learning.  As I often tell my students:  the more you learn, the more the world opens up to you.  So, I hope you helped to open the world a bit wider for every one of your students.  Could any job be more rewarding than that? ** I needed an old picture last week for a project so I went searching through my college yearbooks.  They have remained on my book shelf, rarely opened, for nearly five decades.   Although I discovered hundreds of scenes of college life, my attention was captured by one tiny picture�about the size of a quarter.  Oddly enough, it was a photo of a sheet of paper�a paper that had 8 words handwritten on it.   The sheet looked like it might have been tacked to a wall.  I have no idea why this particular photo was included in a college yearbook but the words on that paper certa...

By Lew Ludwig  (Editor-in-Chief), Denison University I usually give three to four tests during the semester, and I was puzzled why the first test always had the lowest average test score. After all, this should have been the �easier� material. After some reflection, I found that students were not accustomed to taking my tests. Often, they were not aware of the format; I frequently use true/false questions that require a short argument. They were also not accustomed to the pace; like most college classes, in 14 weeks, we cover what most high school courses cover in 36 weeks. To overcome this learning curve, I use an exercise I call �Test Tuesday� to encourage student success on tests in my classes. Every Tuesday when students arrive in class, I give them three or four questions from an old test and 10 minutes to complete so that they become familiar with the test format of my class in a low stakes environment. After the ten minutes are up, students share their work with a neighbor a...