It ain't Rocket Science!

Ah, well, this week's title may be misleading as this concept can actually be used in Rocket Science.  More specifically in the teaching of Rocket Science.

PICTURE BY PABLO GUERRERO AT UNSPLASH

The concept is "Constructive Alignment" or, in the words of a TV Ad "It does what it says on the tin".

The recipe is quite simple:

• Take an Intended Learning Outcome (ILO)
• Announce the ILO to students before any learning activity starts
• Design an interesting assessment that tests whether students have achieved the ILO
• Create opportunities for students to explore the issues surrounding the assessment
• Administer the assessment
• Benchmark against agreed and communicated criteria (i.e. mark)
• Provide feedback on the students' performance against the agreed criteria
• Reward yourself with a glass of scotch in the warm glow of satisfaction that your students have developed useful lifelong skills.

So, how do folks get it wrong so often?

• The ILO is written and communicated via the module specification linked to the VLE that students rarely enter.
• The exam is written (more likely cut and pasted from previous exams in the subject)
• The essay questions, so skillfully crafted, test rote learning, memory, and handwriting
• The lectures take place where the knowledge of the Professor almost gets transmitted to the students
• The students revise (which assumes that they have "vised" in the first place) and "sit" the exam
• Marks are awarded on the basis of "I know a first when I see one"
• Feedback is only available after students complain
• The scotch bottle is already empty.