Homework Tag! (Student Interaction with Response Systems)
Posted by: kmriebau in Instructional Strategies
Checking Homework
I used to assign homework problems to my students to work on in our Physics class of which we would always “go over” the next day in class. It was a way for them to practice and a way for me to gauge their understanding as an informal formative assessment. That next day, I would check their homework for completion - a non-academic grade where I would go around the room with my clipboard checking off those who didn’t have it done while they worked on a “problem of the day.” I would provide the answers to the students and have them check their work. Before I got my hands on a “clicker” device (you know, the gadget that allows for the student to provide input that you can see instantly) I would always ask the class if they had any questions and I would always get the typical lack of response that would seem to indicate they understood the concepts, but would inevitably lead to bombing the Friday quiz - which was an academic grade as a formal formative assessment to check for understanding. It was hard to get my students to own up during class in front of their peers, even when I told them I didn’t have a degree in mind-reading. Grading their work myself everyday was an alternative, but a super-time consuming one, at that, along with the fact that the results would always be a day later. I needed better assessment tools.
Transition into the 21st Century
There were many times during the BT years (Before Technology) I would find myself giving answers out, working out a problem on the board for the students, and realizing that this was boring and besides that, the students grades on the quizzes were still indicating a lack of understanding. We needed more interactivity and the students needed to take ownership for their learning and understanding. How would I make them accountable besides the threat of failure? I found the answer in using a student input device. The key was to have them use a device where they could actually input numbers and text and not just merely choose an A-F answer from a multiple choice question on a powerpoint (which can be useful in its own right). We used Texas Instruments Navigator which is great for math and science, but lately many teachers in our district have begun to use Promethean Expressions which are geared for any content area and most every age group. Now we had a tool that would banish the lack of response in my classroom forever - now we were living in the AT years (After Technology) - welcome to the 21st Century!
Movement Towards a Student-Centered Classroom - Tag, You’re It!
Now I had my students do their homework, the next day they would work on their problem of the day while I still checked for completion, but then something brilliant happened - interactivity and increased achievement! I would ask the students to input their result from the first problem and if they didn’t understand how to do the problem, just input the ? symbol. I could instantly see on my computer screen who was getting the problem right, wrong, or just didn’t get it. I would purposefully not project the results because I didn’t want students to “feed” off each other by seeing the same answer popping up on the board, leading to them jumping on the bandwagon. If the results showed that the majority far outnumbered those who didn’t get the right answer, we would move on (majority rules) and I would indicate to myself those students who needed extra help (if these students kept performing poorly, I would set up a study session with them to get them up to speed later on during off periods, after school, etc.) Let’s say on the next problem there were many ?’s input and many wrong answers - I then knew we needed to spend some time on this content and really try to break it down. I would then initiate the game of “tag” by selecting a lucky student who did get the right answer to have them come to the front of the class and “guest teach” the rest how to do the problem. I would facilitate, guide, fill in holes, and ask for better explanations if needs be, but it was the student who was explaining to their peers. The students would ask each other questions and if they got stumped, I would step in and explain. That first “guest teacher” student was then “it” and the next time we got to a problem we needed to go over, I would indicate to the “it” person four or five peers who got it right for them to “tag” and have them “guest teach.” I know that this format could be improved upon, but it was a great way to get the students to do some of the teaching and when I surveyed them on this instructional strategy, they indicated that tag was definitely a better way of going over homework and they felt like they got more out of it. Subsequently, their quiz scores did improve which indicated to me that the “AT” strategy was more effective than its “BT” predecessor. Positive instructional evolution through technology - it’s empowering!
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