One of our most important tasks in the opening stages of a semester is to learn as much as we can about our students—and not just about their prior knowledge. We can help them learn best if we also get to know them as human beings. Hammond (2015) and Immordino-Yang (2015) both note that social acceptance is crucial for learning, freeing up cognitive resources for deep processing.
Where Do We Start?
The opening of a new semester, full of promise and potential, may not seem like the best moment to give a test… but it’s worth taking time in the first week of class to gather some baseline data on what your students already know or can do.