{"id":7246,"date":"2019-02-21T10:33:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T17:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/?p=7246"},"modified":"2019-02-21T11:43:17","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T18:43:17","slug":"worth-sharing-making-sure-yours-is-not-a-pointless-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2019\/02\/21\/worth-sharing-making-sure-yours-is-not-a-pointless-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"Worth Sharing: Making Sure Yours is not a \u2018Pointless Exercise\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><h3>Not a \u2018Pointless Exercise\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Briefly, Martini noticed that her students didn&#8217;t seem to get the connections she had hoped they would on the assignments she gave, and wondered if it would make a difference if she made those connections explicit.<\/p>\n<p>I can answer that, as I&#8217;ve been experimenting with this for several decades now.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong>It does.<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>We often make the mistake of assuming our students will see the same connections we do. They mostly don&#8217;t. We owe it to them to make those connections explicit. That&#8217;s kind of the big idea behind <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Ausubel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ausubel&#8217;s &#8220;Advance Organizers&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can read more here:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2016\/07\/23\/teaching-out-loud-vs-teaching-loud-vs-teach-aloud\/\">Teaching Out Loud vs Teaching Loud vs Teach-Aloud<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2014\/12\/25\/three-ways-to-improve-undergraduate-teaching\/\">Three Ways to Improve Undergraduate Teaching<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/07\/20\/8-part-series-on-gamification-as-reigeluths-post-industrial-paradigm-of-instruction-part-8\/\">8 Part Series on Gamification as Reigeluth\u2019s Post-industrial Paradigm of Instruction: Part 8<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/09\/07\/a-gamified-instructional-design-model-for-university-courses\/\">A Gamified Instructional Design Model for University Courses<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>From\u00a0<strong>Teaching<\/strong>, a free weekly newsletter from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/How-One-Professor-Made-Her\/245743\/?CID=NL&amp;elqTrackId=ed3a12bd66d2432e8cdde99ce7b7763e&amp;elq=956628ca59604f399f84c39caa24a8b5&amp;elqaid=22301&amp;elqat=1&amp;elqCampaignId=10980\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Chronicle of Higher Education<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Tanya Martini worked hard to make assignments in her psychology courses relevant to students\u2019 lives. Even so, her students sometimes wrote in their course evaluations that they found those assignments pointless.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It was a frustrating situation, but not an uncommon one. Plenty of professors get similar feedback, especially when they, like Martini, a professor of psychology at Brock University, in Ontario, teach courses that attract non majors looking to fulfill a graduation requirement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Martini decided to do something about it. When students indicated that an assignment was pointless, she figured, they were thinking only about the content it covered, not the skills it would help them build.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">So Martini began including a breakdown of those skills in her assignments\u2019 instructions. Surely that would help.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">She ran an experiment to find out, asking students to rate the relevance of assignments with and without a description of the associated skills. To Martini\u2019s surprise and dismay, her addition didn\u2019t make much of a difference. Telling students that an assignment would help them build a particular skill was apparently insufficient.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Why? Many students, Martini realized, thought of skills in a narrow, context-specific way. It wasn\u2019t clear to them that the same skill that a psychology essay would build <\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">written communication <\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">would also help them tackle a history paper, or a business proposal. Higher education often assumes that students can figure out how the skills they learn in one context transfer to a different one. \u201cI think now,\u201d Martini said, \u201cthat it\u2019s asking a lot of them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">So Martini added more-specific language to her assignment instructions to help students think about how the skills they develop can transfer to other areas. \u201cIt\u2019s partly about making it very explicit,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also partly about giving them concrete examples.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">She began by acknowledging that these connections might not be obvious to students <\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u2013<\/span><span class=\"s1\"> and that they might therefore question an assignment\u2019s relationship to their goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Take, for example, an assignment for students in a second-year course in human learning, in which they create study materials for students in the introductory course. \u201cYou may think that this is a pointless exercise if you have no interest in being a teacher (and, more specifically, teaching PSYC 1F90),\u201d she wrote in the instructions. But the assignment, she went on to explain, was about using design thinking, which \u201chappens in any field where people have to ask themselves, on a regular basis, questions like, \u2018How 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 \u2018better\u2019 look like?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The instructions for another assignment in the course describe how a skill it builds, knowledge translation, can be used in a variety of settings. \u201cWhether you become a marketing manager or a cop or a counsellor or a physiotherapist,\u201d she wrote, \u201cyou will often find yourself in a position of having to explain things to others (e.g., clients, parents and other family members) who haven\u2019t had your level of training.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Are these additions enough to move the needle on the way students view assignments? Martini hopes to know soon. One of her students plans to compare the relevance ratings students give to three versions of the assignment <\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">one with no mention of skills, one describing skills, and one further communicating their application <\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">as a senior thesis project. She hopes to have results next month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Martini&#8217;s approach shares elements with a broad effort, called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unlv.edu\/provost\/teachingandlearning?elqTrackId=fc4d6cbf97ab42e1b256219614c55f74&amp;elq=956628ca59604f399f84c39caa24a8b5&amp;elqaid=22301&amp;elqat=1&amp;elqCampaignId=10980\">transparency in learning and teaching<\/a>, that encourages professors to make the purpose of their assignments explicit to students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Another way of helping students understand the skills a particular course helps develop is explaining it in the syllabus. You can read more about that in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/How-Can-Colleges-Help\/245295?cid=tn&amp;elqTrackId=1fa76cad09b046beb683b4de6f8d11fa&amp;elq=956628ca59604f399f84c39caa24a8b5&amp;elqaid=22301&amp;elqat=1&amp;elqCampaignId=10980\">this newsletter<\/a> by our colleague Goldie Blumenstyk. (The newsletter has since been renamed The Edge, and you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/specialreport\/edge-newsletter\/211?cid=tn&amp;elqTrackId=f95030fdf6744356a92c027ba1f50284&amp;elq=956628ca59604f399f84c39caa24a8b5&amp;elqaid=22301&amp;elqat=1&amp;elqCampaignId=10980\">sign up<\/a> to receive it here.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Have your students ever questioned the utility of your assignments? What do you do to help them apply what they learn in your classroom to their lives beyond it? Tell me at <a href=\"mailto:beckie.supiano@chronicle.com\"><span class=\"s3\">beckie.supiano@chronicle.com<\/span><\/a> and your example may appear in a future newsletter.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class='wp_likes' id='wp_likes_post-7246'><a class='like' href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(7246);\" title='' ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-likes\/images\/like.png\" alt='' border='0'\/><\/a><span class='text'>Be the first to like.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class='like' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(7246);\">Like<\/a><\/div>\n<div class='unlike' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.unlike(7246);\">Unlike<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Approximate Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>Not a \u2018Pointless Exercise\u2019 Briefly, Martini noticed that her students didn&#8217;t seem to get the connections she had hoped they would on the assignments she gave, and wondered if it would make a difference if she made those connections explicit. &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2019\/02\/21\/worth-sharing-making-sure-yours-is-not-a-pointless-exercise\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,423,9,352,369,24],"tags":[388,144,365,41,389,126,387,15,393],"class_list":["post-7246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-assessment","category-educational-technology","category-gamification-2","category-higher-education","category-teaching-learning","tag-academia","tag-assessment","tag-books","tag-education","tag-educational-technology","tag-gamification","tag-gamification-101","tag-higher-education","tag-teaching-learning"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Hsb6-1SS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7168,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2018\/12\/10\/is-it-what-straight-a-students-get-wrong-or-is-it-what-we-get-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":0},"title":"IS it What Straight-A Students Get Wrong, or is it what WE get wrong?","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"December 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not the students' fault. Not making marks random, and reducing the risks of failure are what gives students more room to really think. We owe them that. We need to get rid of compartmentalized grading entirely, and quit blaming the students for responding appropriately to an unreasonable assessment system.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6013,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/11\/06\/competency-based-assessment-everything-old-is-new-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":1},"title":"Competency-Based Assessment: Everything Old is New Again","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"November 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Like I've said before, much of gamification really isn't new at all. This is an example. Competency-based assessment is one of the corner-stones of my gamified designs, along with giving students access to almost all of the assignments at the start of term and letting go of deadlines. One of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"gamification-10","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/gamification-10-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7821,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2026\/03\/25\/on-learning-through-playful-experiences\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":2},"title":"On Learning Through Playful Experiences","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"March 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a podcast interview I did recently. https:\/\/www.universityxp.com\/podcast\/160 In this episode of Experience Points, serious games expert Katrin Becker explores why \u201cgood enough\u201d may be more powerful than perfection in gamified learning. She argues that focusing on defined criteria rather than comparison increases student agency and supports a wider\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessment&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessment","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/assessment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/good-enoughs-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7697,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2024\/01\/19\/this-time-for-sure-2-2-2-2-2-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":3},"title":"How Can Gamification be used to enhance PD and Training?","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"January 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This brief segment is from an interview that was recorded for the The Game-Based Learning Virtual Summit, held on Nov. 1-3, 2023 hosted by Dr. Patrick Felicia I was asked:\u00a0In what ways can games, gamification and simulations be utilized to enhance professional development and training in education, and what challenges\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4731,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2015\/04\/04\/practical-gamification-hct-dubai-mobile-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":4},"title":"Practical Gamification | HCT Dubai Mobile Learning","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"April 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My free mini-course starts tomorrow.\u00a0Practical Gamification | HCT Dubai Mobile Learning. April 5-9, 2015","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/gamification-e1426057520863.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7699,"url":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/2024\/01\/22\/this-time-for-sure-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":7246,"position":5},"title":"Tackling Real-World Problems in Education Using Gamification (a.k.a. Gameful Learning)","author":"Katrin Becker","date":"January 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This brief segment is from an interview that was recorded for the The Game-Based Learning Virtual Summit, held on Nov. 1-3, 2023 hosted by Dr. Patrick Felicia I was asked:\u00a0How can games, gamification and simulations be designed to tackle complex, real-world challenges and encourage problem-solving skills among learners, both in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academia&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academia","link":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/category\/academia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7246"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7251,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7246\/revisions\/7251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minkhollow.ca\/beckerblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}