Evaluation Techniques and Personalized Curriculum Building
“F” —> ” A+” Statistics Student: This college student had previously failed statistics twice and had a failing average the third time before working with me. She did not have a strong math background, so the evaluation techniques of identifying learned misconceptions, knowledge gaps, and challenge areas for her proved pivotal in her transformation. Three of the most important elements she was then provided with were:
(1) individualized lesson plans based on the evaluation
(2) structured step-by-step processes for solving each question type
(3) how to identify each type of question so that she would know which process or strategy to apply to each question type.
By the end of the course, she transformed her overall class grade from an “F” to an “A”, including an “A+” on the final.
Memory Management
“20” —> “33” ACT Student (This student transformed her ACT score from 50th percentile -> 98th percentile and almost Harvard level). There was a large amount of content material (in math, particularly, but in grammar as well). One of the important considerations in teaching a large amount of material quickly is memory management. We are human, so just because we learn it once, doesn’t mean it stays in our memory. In fact, one of the main causes of plateaus and regression in my opinion is “Memory Management.” I used a complex planning system to have her revisit concepts at widening intervals (SRS) in which I revisit concepts with the student at various intervals and provided her with customized, original questions that I would construct for her at increasing levels of difficulty. Today I have made my system even more effective and efficient system by including software (Anki, Brainscape, etc.) in tandem with the other elements of the approach.
Gamification
Disinterested —> Engaged and Thriving This is a story from early in my career when I discovered for myself the power of gamification - when I was a teacher in an Australian school and was tasked with teaching a class of disinterested and unruly 7th grade boys (they were described by numerous teachers in school as the “worst class in school”).
One lesson plan I prepared for fraction arithmetic and contextualized it through professional soccer and found the students a fractions basic fractions game (Fun Brain Soccer Shootout), and, if they achieved mastery with a particular difficulty level (getting a certain number of questions correct in a row), they were promoted to the next level of question difficulty, which corresponded to a more prestigious soccer league (the ultimate goal was to reach English Premier League). If too many questions were missed, a student was relegated to a lower league. Otherwise, they stayed at the same level.
The atmosphere of the classroom was transformed as students. Scattered cheers of joy could be heard in the classroom could be heard as students were promoted.
Students were enjoying themselves, and they were learning. I then continued focusing on gamification of topics for these students because it was by far the most effective way to teach them. However, gamification is not only 7th grade boys. It is a powerful tool to motivate learners of all ages and all temperaments, that helps not just with motivation, but also with memory. This is a tool I continue to bring forward in my teaching.