Although I'm no longer faced with the last-day-of-intro class phenomenon, what I used to do is ask people to make a page-sized 2X2 matrix, titling the columns most and least and the rows important and interesting. Into the cells, I'd ask them to write 2-3 of the, for example, most interesting ideas/concepts/facts and so forth. As I recall, some of the ideas, etc. that were most interesting were also the most important. I also remember that there was little agreement among students on what was lest and most interesting and important. I did present this "assessment" as a poster somewhere, but abandoned the matrix idea after that.
DKH David K. Hogberg, PhD Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Albion College, Albion MI 49224 [EMAIL PROTECTED] home phone: 517/629-4834 >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 04/02/04 14:01 PM >>> I have tried a couple of different "big ending" approaches that have worked very well. One is to have them split into groups and develop a list of the "top 3 things that you found fascinating/fun/memorable in this class". After group discussion each group give their 3 items and I write them down on the board. Of course there are repeats but in the end you end up with an impressive set of diverse "lessons" that the students felt they have learned. I might then add 1 or 2 or my own. I think students like seeing how much they have learned and end on a "big picture" note. Also many of the points cut across all the topics in the chapters, like "you really need research to tell what is going on". An alternative is to ask the groups "what are 3 things you learned in the course that you would tell your state representative/congress person (or whatever)". This is focused more on "giving away psychology" and students making a link between what they have learned and the usefulness of this information. It is probably a little harder than the first one. Good luck Marie Michael Lee wrote: >Hello, > >Coming up on the last day of classes, I'm just wondering what some of you >do, if anything, at the end of the year, particularly for Intro Psych. >Like most of us, I'm probably just going to be scrambling chaotically to >finish and wrap everything up as much as possible right to the last minute. >But I thought if there was something some of you say, talk about, or >incorporate >into a final lecture, I'd like to hear about them. Particularly since, as >is often the case >with Intro, we end the year discussing Psychological Disorders and >Treatment, etc. >Not terrribly positive and somewhat anticlimactic. > >Any thoughts/suggestions? > >Mike Lee, MA >Dept of Psychology >University of Manitoba >Winnipeg, MB, Canada > > > >--- >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- ********************************************* Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773 Carlisle, PA 17013 Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971 Webpage: www.dickinson.edu/~helwegm ********************************************* --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
