Last week, I took the last 5 minutes of class and asked students to write which concepts were the mot confusing ("muddiest") for them of the current and previous chapter. I categorized the results with the help of Excel (attached) to find out the most troublesome concepts. I discovered that there were five areas that had multiple student mention, including the calculation of inflation (CPI) and unemployment calculation. I restructured my lesson plan for the next today's class to first focus on those 5 specific areas as review. Though hard to show, I believe that showing that other students were struggling with these concepts made it easier for students to ask follow up questions. I will be using the muddiest points assignment in the future as it is a good way to get comprehensive feedback on what needs improving.
| Attachment | Size |
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| muddiest-points-chaps-5-6-spring-2013.xls | 27.5 KB |
Comments
I like the idea of "muddiest points" Erik! You could also have students ID the muddiest point when they show up to class (from a reading or out-of-class assignment).
Would you have the students share in class what their muddiest points were, or would you still have them write it down on a piece of paper?