What If They Get It Wrong?

One of the concerns I hear voiced about letting the students explore and discuss ideas in the texts they are assigned is that the students, lacking the knowledge and skills of the teacher, may likely misunderstand what they're reading and even compound that misunderstanding through mutual reinforcement. Although it can be overdramatized, this is, nevertheless, a legitimate concern that the teacher should try to address. But consider this first. Eloquent, accessible lectures are no guarantee against misunderstanding, as I've often observed in the past, and until tests and papers roll in, that misunderstanding will probably go undetected. The benefit, then to an active learning approach is the opportunity to hear how the students are understanding the material long before their understanding gets officially assessed.

The other point to consider early is what we mean by understanding and misunderstanding. Perhaps in STEM courses these terms may be more definitively applied, but it clearly raises ethical concerns in the Humanities where reasoned interpretation is a significant factor. Certainly to misstate historical facts, to confuse persons or events, to misuse terminology can be straightforward problems and can be civilly corrected, but to interpret facts and connect ideas involves a large subjectivity. Again, passive learning doesn't eliminate this complication; it just masks it. The key here is to foster an informed, intelligent subjectivity.

To encourage this sort of subjectivity, I begin by making the prompts the students work with specific so that they have some direction and purpose and so that the margin for gross misunderstanding is narrowed without unduly restricting their individual interpretations. Then, moving about the classroom, listening to the discussions, asking questions as each group is visited, and asking follow-up questions or seeking clarification and elaboration as the students share their thoughts with their peers, I can bring my students to recognize the process of intrepreting data as individuals and as a community. Even if I envision some ideal interpretation, and I don't always do so, I feel I should allow my students latitude in their responses if only to avoid my own possible blind spots.

When we do move on to essay responses on examinations, then, what I'm looking for is not simply the correct answer, even if there are some fundamental points I want to see. What I'm looking for is a sophistication of reasoning thoughtfully applied.