By Kristi DePaul 

In an era of ever-increasing transparency, companies are acknowledging that trust is powerful organizational currency.

Wake Forest Associate Professor Holly Brower agrees. She believes that trust cannot be overemphasized in business relationships.

Brower’s research, which has been cited by leading academic and trade journals, has focused on leadership and trust. That is, the elements critical to developing business relationships and examining how trust influences interactions between bosses and subordinates. Productivity, employee engagement and satisfaction, and profits are definitely at stake.

She explains that while her research remains an integral part of her career, she is first and foremost an educator.

“At Wake Forest, we’re very committed to the teacher-scholar model. Scholarship is a way of informing our teaching and making our teaching relevant, connecting it to the marketplace and emerging knowledge.”

Speaking of trust—when it comes to edtech, Brower explains that she is ‘always skeptical.’

“Faculty members are under constant bombardment in terms of sales pitches. I was on the editorial board of an academic journal when ForClass caught my attention. A friend of mine (and star professor) sent an email and said ‘I used ForClass last semester, it’s a great tool and there’s nothing else like it’—adding that it was a great way to lead class discussions.”

Brower felt that it sounded too good to be true, but because of the enthusiastic endorsement, she decided to give it a try. She sent the ForClass team her syllabus and went on to pilot test it with one undergraduate class.

“Their support was great. The ForClass folks found articles and inserted cool icons to make the user experience more attractive to students. Immediately after rolling it out, I liked the way I could use the platform to encourage discussion.”

Support went beyond the tech perspective; Brower also benefited from ForClass co-founder Gad Allon’s pedagogical perspective as a full professor at Kellogg School of Business.

“With Gad’s coaching, I’ve been able to look at my lesson plans and determine where the discussion should go. I then work backwards, asking my students a series of questions so that their answers lead it there.”

Sign up now to try ForClass today, or learn more through a demo with co-founder Prof. Gad Allon.

Brower uses ForClass in an undergrad senior seminar on leadership and an MBA course in organizational behavior. She doesn’t use a textbook for either course, but instead employs a collection of readings and cases, which are gathered into a hub of easily accessible content on the ForClass dashboard.

She informed her students that this was an edtech experiment of sorts, and they were the guinea pigs. Their responses? Brower’s students said that ForClass makes them ‘prepare for every class,’ and that they ‘can never slack off.’ Her MBA students are now accustomed to actively defending their positions or interpretations of the reading.

Brower has taken care to remind all of her students that the classroom is a safe space—a ‘no humiliation zone’. She believes that ForClass is a way for her to hold them accountable in a more strategic fashion than cold-calling on students or depending upon them to volunteer answers.

“My courses are 80 percent discussion based, with very little lecturing.  Occasionally, discussions have gone far afield from the key points I wanted to make during class. Before ForClass, whenever there were four hands in the air, I didn’t have a clue where each student might take the discussion. This is where I’ve seen a huge improvement: with certain parameters in place, I know ahead of time that [for example] I really want Vanessa to share her specific perspective, even if her hand isn’t up.”

She uses coaching as a teaching model, believing that one learns to lead by leading. The experiential nature of her courses sometimes goes well beyond the classroom’s four walls; recently, one of her classes completed a two-and-a-half hour ropes course. They reflect on what they’ve learned, and what principles can be translated to issues they might encounter as leaders.

Over the course of a semester, Brower’s undergraduate students pick a legacy project; a sustainable venture intended to live on beyond their years at Wake Forest.

“I tell my students that I want them to think about leading for the purposes of this class. Sure, we’re all high achievers in this context. But we must inspire, motivate, guide and structure other people’s work to achieve a common goal.”

How does ForClass play into that? 

“A lot of my job is coaching them in that process. ForClass allows me to better lead my class discussions, and to hold my students accountable. They’re learning principles of leadership and discussing them so they can then put them into practice.”

Discussion-based classes depend upon interactivity, and when everyone participates, they thrive.

“I know what each of my students’ voices sounds like. When I click on a bar chart and say we’re going to talk about this, they’re anxious to see results. You can see their anticipation. They want know where they fall. And when all of their pictures show up on the screen, I’m not going to call on the person who always talks with ease. I’ll instead bring another student into the conversation, ‘so Tyler, we haven’t heard from you…’”

Brower doesn’t discount the ways in which her students can teach one another, either.

“Students learn from one another so much—especially in a graduate level class, I feel very strongly that you often learn more from your peers than from a professor. ForClass facilitates that, so students hear others’ experiences and perspectives that play into the topic of the day. I don’t want them to miss their own perspectives. Now I know exactly where to ask each student to share his or her thoughts.”  

—

Dr. Holly H. Brower joined the Wake Forest University faculty in July 2005. She is currently the Faculty Advisor for Internships for the Business and Enterprise Management Major. She teaches Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector, and Leading Change. 

• Check out the ForClass video gallery or read other faculty members’ perspectives in our recent blog posts.

By Kristi DePaul

I’ve often wondered what it’d be like to go through life with the perspective of a risk analyst—to be constantly calculating possibilities and costs of peril, and weighing one’s options accordingly. When I (unintentionally) climbed a Norwegian fjord one summer, the likelihood of spraining my ankle or falling from the steep hillside were never far from my mind. (All went well in this particular scenario, thankfully.)

Just like individuals, companies must also manage risks. They stand to gain or lose a lot based upon the decisions they make. Day in and day out, strategic and operational choices can greatly impact the trajectories of both start-ups and global corporations alike.

In her academic and professional life, such uncertainty has been Professor Nan Yang’s focus. Her research addresses fundamental risk factors in general supply chains—including yield uncertainty, lead-time uncertainty, cost uncertainty and demand uncertainty.

As Yang was one of ForClass’ earliest adopters, I was curious as to why she chose this technology at such an early stage.

Taking a Calculated Edtech Risk

Yang had met with ForClass’ co-founder, Professor Gad Allon, at an operations management conference in late 2014. It was something of a reunion; the two were classmates in their Ph.D. program at Columbia and, as she puts it, ‘academic siblings.’

“Gad is a great researcher and really energetic teacher. When we chatted, he explained to me why he designed ForClass—the rationale behind it and the goal. It all makes sense, because it’s from a professor who not only teaches in the classroom but does it really well. With this tool, he has put a lot of thought and effort into how to do it better—how to accomplish things in different ways and how to improve upon current methods. I was very excited and wanted very much to try it out.”

In January 2015, she put her trust in ForClass, using it in her undergraduate and graduate operations courses at Olin Business School in Washington University in St. Louis.

She was one of the pioneers of the platform, although she describes herself as ‘not extremely tech savvy.’

“With regard to academic technology, I often find that I’m falling behind with it. It’s a field that moves so fast and I don’t have time to catch up. So when I get emails from different software companies asking me to try their product, I ignore them.”

What made a key difference with ForClass isn’t just that she knew Gad Allon personally; it’s that an award-winning professor was behind the product itself.

“When I use ForClass, I’m amazed by how much thought has been put into the design. It’s different from commercial education software because it was designed by a professor who actually taught courses. He knows the challenges, and he directly addresses them with features—keeping faculty and students’ needs in mind.”

Sign up now to try ForClass today, or learn more through a demo with co-founder Prof. Gad Allon.

Seizing Teachable Moments

Yang noted that students also like ForClass because their mistakes can be explained in real time, which means they’re more likely to remember what they did incorrectly–and how to remedy it.

She surveyed her students to find out what they thought. A sampling of their comments:

• “ForClass helps me to focus.”
• “I think it is good practice and application of the material.”
• “It helps in seeing where I stand in comparison to others in understanding.”
• “ForClass allows for immediate feedback and discussion.”
• “Using the information right away allows me to understand the material better and see what I’m not getting.”
• “ForClass is helpful in participation and encouraging effort on in‐class problems. It’s also nice to be able to see answers from other students.”

Yang feels that the platform frees up time for students who would otherwise linger after a lecture to ask unresolved questions.

“I actually think it helps them to save time after class,” she said. “They’re able to grasp most of the concepts and ideas clearly in class.” 

Professors are also no strangers, of course, to having expert blind spots. Those who have attained Yang’s level of understanding on a complex subject are sometimes unable to see that the pace and level at which they’re teaching is eluding students’ capabilities.

“I used to teach where I liked to teach, but now with ForClass’ immediate feedback, I see where the students need me to teach — at the right level and pace.”

“Sometimes, this means I might move slower, but afterwards, students tell me they’ve learned a lot. Prior to this, I simply didn’t get that kind of feedback. I taught faster, but they learned less. As an educator, I’m excited about the material, but have to keep in mind that this isn’t one-sided. I now can see what concepts my students are missing, and what they’ve mastered perfectly. That’s the thing I love about ForClass: real-time feedback.”

Filling Seats, Motivating Students

Yang notes that since she began using ForClass, her class attendance has improved because, as she explains it, “students feel that they’re getting more out of the class, so they voluntarily show up more often.”

This is especially true in her evening class, where participation only counts for 5% of the grade. Many in this mixed-level course of undergrad and professional MBA students work fulltime, so it’s important for them to grasp the material in an efficient way. Those students aren’t motivated by a grading component; it’s the learning experience that drives them to show up and participate.

“This is a much better system for two-way communication. It has helped me to read their minds,” Yang admitted, chuckling. “On a serious note, I’m now thinking about the most effective questions to ask for my students. This is a learning process for me, too!”

Yang uses questions of different levels. The more involved questions are included in homework assignments, while others that can serve as a ‘quick check’ on a concept are easily done in class. Yang explains that “you know immediately if they ‘get it’ or not.”

She adjusts the difficulty level according to students’ responses, and specifically looks for those questions that will elicit more robust in-class discussion. The questions themselves aren’t new—she’s been using them in her lessons for years—but unlike previous years, she now knows how her students find the exercises.

“After one year of using ForClass, I have a much better idea of how my in-class exercises are being received. Instead of simply having the quickest student answering questions, I’ll wait until at least a quarter of the class responds and then I’ll open up the discussion.”

Confident, Informed Teaching

How does ForClass impact Yang’s teaching?

“Today, I speak to my students with confidence. I’m not taking up class time to ask 10 students; that approach quickly becomes repetitive and boring and you don’t achieve the desired end result in terms of learning. Instead, I immediately see and understand where I need to drive the discussion to get there.” 

But she believes that the platform has even broader implications for her as a faculty member.

“Every minute I spend with ForClass has a long-term impact on my teaching. I’m still learning and improving as a professor. The product helps my teaching.”

Yang also feels that ForClass addresses a critical problem for many professors: assessing students’ understanding in real time.

It’s a very important missing link in classroom: professors’ understanding of students’ overall understanding of material. What used to be a push system, now is a pull system, with me learning what students know, and catering to their needs. Teaching isn’t about what I know and want you to learn—it’s about where you are and how you can learn the best.”

—

Dr. Nan Yang is an assistant professor of operations and manufacturing management in Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

• Check out the ForClass video gallery or read other faculty members’ perspectives in our recent blog posts.

By Kristi DePaul

Think back on your first job after college or graduate school. I’m willing to bet that you gave it your very best effort. You probably made extensive plans, second-guessing yourself at times or seeking out advice from others.

It was a time of proving to yourself that you were able to not only survive, but thrive. Just how eager were you to judge your own performance in those early months?

When just starting out in a new career, you might be so focused on completing the job at hand that evaluation feels like a far-off requirement. One of those things that’s more of a nice-to-have, but not such a critical element that it warrants immediate attention. After all, there’s ground to cover, stakeholders to answer to and deliverables to produce.

First you’ve got to actually accomplish the thing before you can reflect on it. Right?

New to Academia, Ready for Assessment

You might have that luxury when your stakeholders don’t include several roomfuls of 20-something college students.

For Owen Parker, an Assistant Professor in Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business, ‘professional assessment’ was part of his vocabulary from the very beginning. The Mississippi native graduated from Indiana University in 2015, and soon found himself at the helm of two sections of Oklahoma State’s capstone courses in business.

“As a new faculty member, you really want to know how you’re doing. To that end, I was very interested in assessing my performance and course-correcting or adjusting as quickly as possible.”

In terms of assessing teaching effectiveness, student engagement often plays a major role. And anonymity and strong student engagement often don’t mix. “I’ve always tried to learn all of my students’ names,” Parker says.

Student interactivity and engagement are critical in courses where professors aren’t employing the traditional lecture; rather than being the ‘sage on the stage,’ they’re looking to students to be actively involved in their own learning process.

For Parker, a significant part of that process is rooted in the level of student participation.

“You want to be able to track participation. The model that I’d seen done was to have students follow along with the discussion as scribes. That is, actually transcribing what people say in real time, as best you can. Yet by the end of the semester, it’s always the same students who are offering their comments. Others will inevitably comment on their inability to participate, by saying things like ‘I never get a chance,’ ‘so-and-so is always hogging the airwaves.’”

Parker initially decided to try ForClass beginning with spring semester this year, when he ramped up with two courses. This wasn’t his first go-round with an in-class edtech product, either. “I initially explored other technologies. I’m most interested in tracking student responses and driving discussion, which I’ve found to be best facilitated by ForClass.”

When Parker transitioned from the scribe method to using ForClass, he noted major changes for his students—and for himself as a professor.

Here’s how he describes the ‘massive difference’ between fall and spring semesters:

1) Students’ insights have emerged.

“ForClass draws out students who wouldn’t normally speak because they don’t think they have something to offer. I’ve actually been shocked by students’ insightful comments – not knowing all along how profoundly they’re thinking about something and then this sort of big reveal. It really challenges your assumptions about them. You think: there’s a lot going on in there.”

2) Participation is tracked effortlessly.

“Now, I’m the one keeping track of participation and there’s no burden to me. My students have already spoken when they’ve submitted assignments. ForClass reduces uncertainty on my end with regard to who has done the homework, as well as the operational burden of bringing name cards to class.”

3) Discussions became more strategic.

“ForClass gives you agency to guide the discussion. You know what people are thinking already. Even if you don’t call on them, you can still give them credit for what they did. And you finally have answers to the big questions: Are they getting anything out of this? How do I know they’re reading?”

Sign up now to test out ForClass on your own, or learn more demo with our co-founder Prof. Gad Allon.

Truly Flipping the Classroom

It’s been several years since the flipped classroom model has been considered an especially novel approach to pedagogy. Its many benefits have been enumerated and it has been the subject of countless research projects. In recent years, technology has been a key component.

Since Parker has chosen to use ForClass as a means for flipping his classrooms, students in his classes know what’s expected of them.

Throughout the past semester, Parker’s students would complete case study readings and respond to questions through the ForClass platform from anywhere with an Internet connection—dorms, libraries, the local Starbucks—in advance of their class meeting. Once submitted, their aggregated responses could then be viewed by Parker and displayed in either bar chart or Word Cloud formats, depending upon the response type. Using these data visualizations, Parker has been able to see exactly where each student stands with regard to a particular question.

“On the morning of class, I’ll look at exemplars and contrarian responses and will write down a word or two about what I know I need to say during the lecture portion of the class.”

He notes that he can always ask a specific question following the general concepts that he wanted to cover.

After a semester scanning students’ responses, Parker feels confident that he can clearly see who’s reading, and who is grasping the material. Their comprehension is central to his performance, as Parker views his classes as a unit; by instructing, he is leading.

Their progress is palpable. “I feel like we’re moving forward as a class.”

—

Dr. Owen Parker is an assistant professor in the Department of Management at the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University.

• Check out the ForClass video gallery or hear from other faculty members in our recent blog posts.

By Kristi DePaul

History is by no means a sleepy subject; indeed, as the saying goes, those who are unaware of it are thereby doomed to repeat it.

In modern-day China, one finds a culture in which people are perhaps hyper-aware of their national history; in fact, debating events that transpired centuries ago is something of a national pastime.

Dr. Joanna Waley-Cohen, noted Chinese historian and Provost of NYU-Shanghai, agrees. “Whether or not people choose to recognize the impact of these legacies, they tend to arouse tremendous passions,” explains Waley-Cohen.

She would know. Although much of her demanding leadership role requires her to be outside of the classroom, Waley-Cohen continues to teach at least one undergraduate course in Chinese history per semester. “I love teaching. It keeps me in touch with the true mission of the university and with the students themselves.”

Embracing a Different Kind of Edtech

As an educator, she admits that she is hesitant to adopt new technologies. In addition to the university’s LMS, she has embraced just one other form of edtech: ForClass. After a referral from a colleague, Waley-Cohen decided to give the platform a try—and, in her words, mastered it quite quickly. “It’s designed very intuitively, from the perspective of a professor,” she said.

“One of the things I most appreciate about ForClass are the qualitative ways to see how different people interpret evidence; more specifically, how the same set of information produces various conclusions and responses among my students.”

Waley-Cohen also noted that, aside from effective classroom management, it allows professors to further develop online rapport with their students. “My students generally like it and have said it’s helpful. ForClass offers them a chance to think and reflect, with questions prompting them throughout the reading.”

Waley-Cohen notes that the technology has effectively flipped the classroom by anchoring a debate prior to the beginning of a class. When drawing upon the visual word cloud of student responses, she can easily identify which students to ask regarding opinions on either side. “When I call on students, I know they’ll be well prepared and that they are getting something out of the experience.”

Teaching within an Intercultural Context

Roughly half of Waley-Cohen’s students are Chinese, while the remainder come from the US and other countries around the world. Whatever their preparation, they often have strong views but their approach is different; Chinese students follow classroom debates closely but are sometime reticent to speak without being called on, while Americans and other foreigners are more willing to venture their opinion.

Waley-Cohen appreciates how ForClass has made her class preparation more strategic. “It offered me the chance to focus my attention for a particular lesson, organizing the structure in advance.”

For example, Waley-Cohen recalls one in-class debate involving a guest speaker. He had covered an old story about a 15^th century Chinese naval admiral, whose seven fleets sailed to east coast of Africa. The official Chinese version of the treasure fleets portrays this as a journey of exploration and friendship. But the evidence shows that that these fleets were actually heavily armed and had other goals, including securing the trade routes and enforcing cooperation; as the speaker put it, ‘the guns weren’t for decoration’.

The discussion was both challenging for those who had learned the official version in high school and enlightening for those who hadn’t; ForClass made for more effective preparation for professor and students alike as well as a much richer in-class learning experience.

Relentless Service, Receptiveness to Customer Ideas

Waley-Cohen also notes that almost-instantaneous technical help from the ForClass support team removed any anxieties she might have had initially. Questions were quickly resolved, and it was that support as much as the tool itself that quickly won her over.

“Right away, I felt confident that this would be a useful tool for future classes, with a team behind it that I could trust. This was demonstrated very concretely when I had a student who submitted some insightful feedback. She had asked if it might be possible to add an open-ended question to the platform so that students would have an opportunity to bring up any questions or unexplored topics each week.”

ForClass responded by quickly adding the suggested feature. Waley-Cohen now knows that at the conclusion of one of her history courses, no stone remains unturned.

—

Dr. Joanna Waley Cohen serves as Provost and Julius Silver Professor of History at NYU-Shanghai. 

• View the ForClass video gallery.
• Save your spot for an informational webinar with Prof. Gad Allon.

By Kristi DePaul

The demographics of higher education in America are changing. Today’s ‘average student’ is 25 years old. They may be balancing family, work and school, or be a recent immigrant to the country. He or she could be serving in the military. When it comes to the rigors of a bachelor’s degree program, the characteristics of such students can bring both advantages and challenges.

The New Traditional College Student

As a longtime faculty member at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, Prof. Tim Baldwin has witnessed this demographic change firsthand.

“I’m very similar to our typical student profile of years past. So, for somebody like me, who has taught many courses over time in a very traditional university environment with a lot of 18-to-22-year-old native English-speaking students from the Midwest, our current classes represent a major shift.”

Baldwin acknowledges that these evolving demographics naturally require a different approach to teaching.

“I’ve seen the classroom change a lot in terms of age, ethnicity, gender—in order to connect with that audience it takes a little more effort and thoughtfulness.”

He admits that as an extrovert, he’s more than comfortable with disagreement, especially in the classroom setting. Baldwin seeks it, in fact, in order to expose differing viewpoints. He recognizes that this style won’t resonate with students who are on the other end of the spectrum, though.

“ForClass gives you that opportunity behind the scenes to realize just how informed some of your more introverted students are. That’s the single most valuable thing about ForClass: it’s a breakthrough in how it levels the playing field for students who are less assertive and less extroverted.”

…and as a faculty member, Baldwin notes that you can sometimes come away from a class falsely believing that the majority of students were engaged when this wasn’t at all the case.

“At the end of class, you may think ‘man, they were really informed and well-prepared:,  why didn’t they say anything?’ ForClass allows you to encourage participation from everyone on the basis of grade, rather than going on interaction that I’ve merely witnessed in my classes.”

There’s also the question of class size, and how effectively a professor can manage a smaller, more intimate class versus a larger lecture hall. Baldwin says that class size has become more manageable in terms of knowing who has participated, and encouraging the whole group to join a discussion.

“Ask any instructor: did you get a lot of student participation? And they will likely say, yes, it was a great class.  If you actually analyzed it, however, you’d see that of 45 students, 16 spoke, and maybe 4 with passion. So it felt like a  a spirited, lively class and  it seemed to go really well. From another perspective, 30 students didn’t have a word to say. Thirty! ForClass enables everyone to comment and share their perspective. As in, they all have to do it.”

Four Big Advantages to Using ForClass

In what ways is ForClass most helpful to Baldwin? There are a number of areas that appear to benefit students and faculty:

• Student accountability. “For me, the single most important thing about adopting the platform. If we’re going to say nobody wants death by PPT or to be talked ‘at’ in a lecture format, what are the options? You’ve got case discussions and experiential exercises, but you need a way to translate those into active, informed, prepared students. ForClass enables that.”

• Grading participation. “The other thing, which is very helpful, is grading—if you want to grade participation on any level, you can demonstrate how students performed over the course of a semester. There’s visibility into the range of student responses, including better answers that show critical thinking and others that are perhaps less informed or organized. Now, I’ve been given a window into some top-notch analysis that I can frame into an example, based on input from 25 very smart minds.”

• Debate preparation. “ForClass sets up debates so beautifully. We used to use voting cards in class to create that kind of effect, but now, I know exactly where each student in the room stands on a given issue. So leadership questions like “Should we fire this person?” or “Should we expand into another region?” come with individual perspectives.” (Their answers are much more autonomous now, since they’re not influenced by others’ responses in class.)

• Class customization. “What the platform does for me is a couple of things: it really gives me a starting point for class discussion. For example, if you happen to have a full agreement on an issue already, what a great time not to focus on that…but to instead pick out those areas where you have some contention. Those are wonderful teaching moments, where A would be better than B. As a faculty member, you’re customizing the class to THAT specific student cohort. I’ve actually done this; on the basis of using ForClass, I can honestly say that two sections can be materially different because of the prompts students give me to lead the class.”

“Customization is great to talk about, but hard to do; ForClass allows you to do it with very little additional effort. This isn’t just hype; this is a really neat tool. It allows for very easy customization, and every educator alive knows that’s the movement across the board in higher education.”

Baldwin explains that in a precious hour-and-a-half, he needs to highlight the areas where understanding, confusing and epiphany converge. Students are plunged into real-world problem solving, where they confront industry disruptions and quality assurances, and frame initiatives they’d lead to mitigate issues.

“Teaching in this context, with case studies, is very behavioral. It’s not so much who you are—your values and beliefs—It’s the decisions you make. What are you going to do first, second, third? Who are your potential champions? Sources of resistance? Wrestling with those in advance gives us a variety of different takes and spirited discussions.”

—

Prof. Tim Baldwin is Chairperson of the Management and Entrepreneurship Department at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, and is the Randall L. Tobias Chair in Leadership.

• View the ForClass video gallery.
• Save your spot for an informational webinar with Prof. Gad Allon.

By Gad Allon

A recent Inside Higher Ed post on the problem of student preparation provoked a lot of conversation among academics, and a bevy of opinions about how we as educators can motivate students to ‘do the reading’.

The fact that this is an issue should come as no surprise. It’s an age-old problem that transcends generations and cultures. Just what (if anything) can actually be done about it is a bit more complicated and nuanced.

The Fallacy of Hard Deadlines & Grades

The author makes a good point when stating that ‘in student-world, there are only hard deadlines’ – and goes on to specify that such hard deadlines often involve items that are going to be graded. (He later refutes this approach.)

Before I share what I believe is missing from his perspective, I will first say that hard deadlines preceding a performance evaluation are incredibly motivational in moving students (or employees, for that matter), toward a desired result.

Assigning a hard deadline to a given assignment – be it a project, paper or presentation – is a proven way to incite action in students.

How is this motivational?

• Grades are concrete. They represent the stark truth about students’ efforts, and can serve as an open door to further educational or professional opportunities, or, conversely, a locked gate. You want that coveted ‘A’, because it will make you appear more qualified or attractive to those who make decisions based on quantified effort.
• Grades (are supposed to) signal a certain level of quality of performance. They’re just not all that effective in encouraging exploration of content or a robust understanding of the topic at hand. In reality, a grade-driven focus turns everything about learning into a means to an end.

How can we reverse this thinking so that learning is emphasized, instead of discarded as a possibly byproduct en route to the ‘real’ goal?

Ensuring More Robust Student Preparation

The author cites an alternative tactic that he uses to ensure that his students will arrive prepared for class: he develops an activity in which they’ll have to actually apply what they’ve read.

For example, how many times have you come to class, knowing you’re about to give a presentation without preparing at all whatsoever? Probably zero. You knew you were going to stand in front of a group, and you had to have visuals, and you had to say something – there was nowhere to hide.

That seems as though it’d be effective enough. The knowledge that one will have to put subject matter to immediate use could encourage a decent level of preparation. Perhaps it would even increase participation (albeit in a potentially lackluster or superficial fashion).

But I would take this one step further.

Instead of writing a rhetorical analysis, rewriting the content itself, or debating in a large group, as is suggested, I believe that wherever possible, in-class discussions and student participation should be emphasized.

Individual participation, that is. Sharing original thoughts, analysis and opinions in real time. (And before I continue, I acknowledge that this cannot easily apply to the occasional 400-student freshman psychology course. But it’s not impossible in this environment, either.)

The mere notion that you may have to speak to your own perspective in class has shown excellent results in boosting students’ motivation to prepare. I’m not talking about ‘cold-calling’, where a professor randomly calls out names, but rather, an approach that uses technology to tease out who said what about a given topic. This is the backbone of the platform I developed to solve exactly this problem: why students don’t come to class prepared, and how to spur conversations in class without having a superpower giving me the ability to know who agreed with whom, or which students were almost on-target but missed a few critical points.

This is a flipped classroom model with very real, very tangible in-class results. This is total transparency.

The student who knows that he or she may very likely have to speak on the subject, explaining the rationale submitted prior to class in the open—directly in front of his or her peers—has a very real motivation for doing the work.

No professor can read through dozens of essay questions and memorize students’ answers, but that’s where content aggregation and data visualization change the game.

These students are much more likely to not only skim the reading, but to arrive prepared. They’re aware of the new parameters, and they respond accordingly—without a heavy emphasis on hard deadlines or grades. And perhaps somewhat surprisingly, there’s no aversion to this approach on the part of the student; in fact, many students surveyed by professors using ForClass say it added value to their classroom experience.

It’s my belief that this kind of classroom environment, which emphasizes better preparation through content immersion and analysis, will ultimately improve students’ learning experiences. We’re seeing evidence of it in the classrooms of 190 professors around the world.