WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT DECLINING STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN OUR CLASSROOMS?

In both introductory and upper-level geology classes, student performance on exams and other assessments has declined markedly during the past decade. Comparison of scores on questions that were repeated on exams from 2005 through 2011, shows that the best performing students perform at the same level as in the past; at the same time, average student scores have declined by nearly 20%.

Prior to an exam, we provide students with knowledge surveys (questions that summarize learning goals) to guide preparation. If we put verbatim questions from a survey on an exam, many students cannot answer them correctly. After an exam we encourage students to re-write (for credit) answers to questions they did poorly on during the original exam seating. Sometimes we let students retake exams to improve their score. The idea is to make sure they master those things we deem important. Surprisingly, some of the lowest-scoring students decline these opportunities. Scores for the re-written exam questions improve, but often fall short of mastery.

We routinely have our students complete reflections (exam wrappers) after receiving their graded exams. These reflections ask students to describe their preparation, the study strategies they used, and to analyze errors that they made. Data collected via exam wrappers and by other means show that students blame poor performance on their own lack of effort and preparation. “I didn’t have time to study enough.” “I sort of understood it but did not work out the details.” “There are many things competing for my time.” Few students blame the complexity of the material or the instructor. Poor performance corelates well with lack of attendance, confirming students' opinion that they cause their own difficulties.

To address the problem of declining learning: (1) to the extent possible, instructors should move far away from instructor-oriented didactic instruction. Recent studies by the GARNET group have demonstrated significantly better learning outcomes in student-oriented (aka learner centered or engaged) classes. (2) instruction should include explicit, embedded, activities designed to improve student motivation, interest, work habits, reflection, etc. There are many possibilities, but invoking them means that tomorrow’s classrooms will not be the same as they are today.