XPRESS 4 IDEAS

Some recent research shows that many students do poorly on assignments or in participation because they do not understand what to do or why they should do it. Teachers should spend more time explaining why we teach what we do, and why the topic or approach or activity is important and interesting and worthwhile. In the process, some of the teacher's enthusiasm will be transmitted to the students, who will be more likely to become interested. Similarly, teachers should spend more time explaining exactly what is expected on assignments or activities. Students who are uncertain about what to do will seldom perform well. To the question, "When will we ever use this?" there are several answers. (1) You never know when knowledge and skills will be useful. (2) Whether or not you ever use this specific knowledge is less important than the fact that you are learning how to learn, learning the discipline of focusing on a task, learning how to work on a task that might not be interesting to you--and perhaps you are learning how to make such tasks interesting. There is an exercise in basic training where recruits step back and forth into old tires rapidly. No one ever asks, "When will we ever need to know how to step through tires?" because they know they are building agility.