My colleague gave our shared class a quiz on following directions, starting with "Read all the directions before you do anything" and then offering a numbered list of ridiculous actions (fold the paper in half, poke a hole in the middle, draw a smiley-face, and so on) concluding with "Do not complete any item on this list." Students who read all the directions all the way through can sit in class laughing their heads off as their classmates fold papers, poke holes, and draw smiley-faces.
Our students took this quiz in her class yesterday; today they're submitting drafts in my class. How many of them won't be able to follow simple written directions for submitting drafts online?
I was going to say we're facing an epidemic of failure to follow directions, but 20 percent doesn't quite reach epidemic status. It is, however, a very revealing exercise: if 80 percent of the class manages to understand the written directions and upload the draft, then the problem probably does not lie with the directions or the technology. If nothing else, this assignment reveals which students are going to need extra attention.
Do you think I should make them fold their drafts into origami cranes?
2 comments:
I remember having teachers do similar exercises, with the last instruction being something like, turn over the paper and write your name on the back.
And most of us, way back in the days of covered wagons, failed miserably.
It may be epidemic, but there's nothing new about students failing to follow directions.
I was just thinking about that test, that we did in 3rd grade, betting I could find it online. One of our administrators-- the one in charge of pushing a button in the approval process for money-- seems to be incapable of reading emails through far enough to realize he's supposed to push a damn button.
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