We are having the same problem in a first year intro Ecology course. Some students have asked us to just lecture at them because they are tired of doing badly on the iRATs, I guess. They say they don't know what to study out of the textbook when we assign it before the iRAT. They want us to give them a handout of exactly what to know. I feel like they need to build life-long learning skills of how to prepare for a 10-12 question quiz in a class on basic concepts. Here is the guide we gave them for how to study: *Here are some tips for how to prepare for RATs using the textbook:* You should be able to define any vocabulary terms in *bold *and use them correctly. For each section of the text that has a heading in bold black letters (these sections are usually ½ page to 2 pages in length), be able to write a sentence summarizing the main take-home point. For each figure in the text, you should be able to interpret the figure and explain it in your own words. It would be great to hear from others how to encourage these students are doing so poorly on the iRAT and are uncertain how to study. Note: we also offer a study session for two hours the night before the quiz, staffed with TAs On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 11:05 AM, Neil Haave <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > First the context: this is a first year course for majors and non-majors > in biological function. Most of the students are either majoring in biology > or intending to enter a professional program in the health sciences. > > My question: How have people on this list handled the huge disappointment > that happens with the first RAT of the first term in freshman courses? > > This is typically students' very first university quiz as I start right > after the first week of setting up the course structure with the first TBL > module. This past weekend I gave students their reading assignment complete > with reading guide (key objectives and keywords matched to the pages and > figure numbers in the text book). Then they wrote their first RAT > yesterday. I received fairly typical results I think except that the iRAT > score were lower then I had hoped. > > [image: Inline images 1] > > > [image: Inline images 2] > > It breaks my heart when I hear stories from students during the tRAT and > after class that they studied 10-15 hrs and made 10-15 pages of notes over > the long weekend only to receive an iRAT mark of 2/10. They had such energy > at the start of the term last week. Now I think I have killed it. > > How do the rest of you manage this sort of disappointment and help > students regain their spirit for learning (and mine for teaching!)? I > suspect the issue is that many of these excellent students (and I have no > doubt they achieved excellence in high school) simply were able to excel in > high school without developing good study, reading, and note-taking skills. > I have a couple of excellent senior students who will be coming into class > tomorrow to explain how they read and take notes. I hope that helps. > > I would love to hear the collective wisdom of the TBLC. > > Thanks very much. > > Neil > > *Neil Haave, PhD* > Associate Professor, Biology > Managing Editor, *CELT > <http://celt.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/CELT/index>* > Vice-President, AIBA > <http://www2.mtroyal.ca/~tnickle/AIBA/AIBA_website/AIBA.html> > Faculty Affiliate, CTL > <http://uofa.ualberta.ca/centre-for-teaching-and-learning/about-ctl/people/faculty-affiliates> > McCalla Professor > <http://uofa.ualberta.ca/centre-for-teaching-and-learning/awards/mccalla-professorships> > > University of Alberta, Augustana Faculty > Rm C155, Science Wing, Classroom Building, Augustana Campus > 4901 - 46 Avenue, Camrose, AB, CANADA T4V 2R3 > > email <[log in to unmask]> | Augustana dossier > <http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/profs/nhaave/> | Google+ > <https://www.google.com/+NeilHaave> | blog > <http://activelylearning2teach.blogspot.ca/> | Twitter > <https://twitter.com/nhaave> | LinkedIn > <https://ca.linkedin.com/in/neilhaave> > > "*We do not learn from experience . . . we learn from reflecting on > experience*" - John Dewey > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the TEAMLEARNING-L list, please click here. > <https://lists.ubc.ca/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=TEAMLEARNING-L&A=1> > > Further information about the UBC Mailing Lists service can be found on > the UBC IT website. > -- Heather ******************************************* Heather R. L. Lerner, Ph.D., M.S. Joseph Moore Museum <http://earlham.edu/jmm> Director Assistant Professor of Biology Earlham College 801 National Road West Richmond IN 47374 ******************************************* Google Voice: 949-GENOMES Email: [log in to unmask] http://heatherlerner.com/ ******************************************* ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the TEAMLEARNING-L list, please click the following link: https://lists.ubc.ca/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=TEAMLEARNING-L&A=1 Further information about the UBC Mailing Lists service can be found on the UBC IT website.