Pull Back the Curtain

 

Higher education often assumes that our students can figure out how the skills they learn in one context transfer to a different one. This assumption is faulty, and it’s not because our students aren’t smart enough, it’s because they aren’t content matter experts and learning experts. The same is true for us in unfamiliar areas. It isn’t clear to students that the same skill an English essay builds–written communication–will help them learn to write a clear and concise lab report in biology, or a business proposal in their future job.

Think back to algebra, were you a wiz, or did you struggle trying to figure out the relevance of learning those equations? Did you know that learning algebra could help you do your job as a purchasing agent, forest ranger, or a financial advisor? Probably not. If you did, you may have paid more attention to learning algebra. One way to help students understand the relevance of an assignment is to add specific language to assignment instructions showing how the skills they develop by doing the assignment can transfer outside the course. Giving students concrete examples helps this transfer of learning. An excerpt from an article titled “How One Professor Made Her Assignments More Relevant,” shows how Kelly Hogan, a biology professor at UNC Chapel Hill, offers this concreteness in her assignment:

“You may think that this is a pointless exercise if you have no interest in being a teacher (and, more specifically, teaching PSYC 1F90),” she wrote in the instructions. But the assignment, she went on to explain, is about using design thinking, which “happens in any field where people have to ask themselves, on a regular basis, questions like, ‘How can we do this? How can we make this experience/process work? Could we be making this experience/process better for people? And if we could, what would ‘better’ look like?”

If we pull back the curtain and show students our reasons for creating an assignment, they are a lot less likely to think it is busy work. Consider including the skills the assignment teaches, and how those skills translate outside the classroom in the assignment. There are so many good reasons to learn to write succinctly, or learn about world history, or learn how the human body moves and functions. Let’s list them for students! Your assignments are not random. You planned and crafted them to create an opportunity for students to learn something. Something that they can take with them and use in life. Creating this explanation in a list or paragraph in every assignment allows students to see your thinking and the purpose and relevance of doing the assignment.

To continue the conversation, comment below about how you do this, what you might do in the future, or any thoughts regarding pulling back the curtain to increase transfer of student learning. This blog is one year old, thanks for reading!

References

Beckie, Beth, and Steven. (2020, July 22). How One professor made her assignments more relevant. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-one-professor-made-her-assignments-more-relevant/?sra=true&cid=gen_sign_in

Indeed Editorial Team. (2022, June 24). 12 careers that involve algebra and pay more than $50,000 annually. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/careers-that-involve-algebra