by driftword

Is there a hidden agenda behind all of this extra work we’re doing with Student Learning Outcomes?

Writing Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) has recently appeared front and center on my radar screen, and the deadline is closing fast. After digging through the resources found on UC’s Semester Conversion home page, I have to say that there seems to be a hidden agenda behind all of this extra work. Crafting “approved” student learning outcomes becomes an exercise in teaching effectiveness (or lack thereof) as much as meeting the semester-conversion deadlines.

Because of Semester Conversion, now is the perfect time to rethink the way we teach our courses—which means we probably have to rebuild them from the ground up. Not only do we have to write learning outcomes for our individual courses, but these individual outcomes must carefully align with our program outcomes…which means we as a faculty must come together to review the classes we teach as a group. Ouch! Who needs all this extra work?

By Benjamin Passty, PhD

I never look forward to giving exams. I suspect most professors share this view. We enjoy the activity of teaching, the performance, the chance to explain our insights to our charges every day in the classroom; nevertheless, something about judging these same students seems a little unfair.

In a lecture setting, I feel as though I have complete control: The outline for the day, what goes on the board, even funny anecdotes are all things I can select, and over time–with experience–my ability to select the proper ones has almost become razor sharp. When it comes time to give an exam, I feel more like I create a monster that I then have to send out into the wild, with the students’ own inquiries representing my only opportunity to clarify and help them.

The biggest problems occur at the end of exams. Some students continue working after time is called. Others take advantage of the TA’s being distracted by those students turning in their work in order to cheat as well. The last five minutes are inevitably a zoo. For a long time, I was convinced there must be a way to regain calm and control.

As far as dealing with those last few minutes of an exam, I think I’ve found a method that works quite well: I give students extra credit for submitting their exams early.