Dear TIPsters,
I love this antic, but take pause that it may be ethically
questionable. Could you help me decide?
My student, intending to teach the topic of "stress", used an
interesting activity. She had, at the outset of her course told the
students what the ground rules were: so many tests, required
participation, no pop quizzes, etc. On the day allocated to"stress", she
entered the classroom, and in a commandeering way told the students
..."Today we are having a little quiz"...."get out one half sheet of
paper, please" Faces dropping, paper tearing, students looking perplexed
and a little unbelieving and a lot betrayed. She used the moment well."
I am going to dictate the quiz question. Please write it down carefully
and then we will have ten minutes to answer. Thank you, and I look
forward to reading your answer."
"Now, she said, Listen Up...." (Silence prevailed and tension
mounted). She then spoke the quiz question slowly, very slowly, word by
word, ostensibly so students could write down the question. She said,
slowly and deliberately, so they could take word for word dictation.....
"There......is...........no................................quiz." Of
course there was collective relief. And then she could relate their
experience and feelings to "stress."
Now I thought this was rather cool and wish I had thought of it.
But then I realized deception was involved. One of my more conservative
students said,...Suppose one of her students had a heart problem!..And so
I wondered what everyone here thinks inasmuch as this is a thoughtful
bunch re: what one actually says to students and how one interacts with
them under the testiest of conditions at times.
When I took her a bit to task, she averred that this was not her
idea and she had read it in some TIPS-approved publication. Then I
thought perhaps my thinking was just too IRB reactionary and her teaching
behavior was justified given the instructional point.
This is clearly an issue needing collective wisdom. Thanking you
in advance for any true light you might shed on this matter. KB
