In the middle of the semester, most of my ENG 102 students stopped working.   They had spent the first part of the semester doing incredible research but when it came time to produce projects with the research they had successfully completed, they stopped working.  They met with me, I coached them on the next steps, they told me they knew what to do, and then they stopped working.

Logically, my course design was impeccable.  I set it up so that students would have considerable time doing research.  They would then apply their research to a project that would contribute to the Ocelot Scholars website.  While doing the project, they would become more familiar with their subject matter.  As a result, they would be able to do an even better job on their papers than if they had written them earlier in the semester.  But, in the middle of the semester, they stopped working.

The problem was in the course design; not the students.

After doing research, students expected to do a research paper.  When I asked them to do a project, they froze.  Intellectually, they knew what they were supposed to do.  But to step into the unknown was too much to fathom.

During the past couple of weeks, I have been discussing the course with students.  They have agreed with my assessment that had I designed the course so that they did research, paper, and then project it would have been easier for them to progress.  Not only would that design have fit their expectations, but the project—not the paper—was actually the most difficult assignment and the one for which they could have used more background.

The middle of the semester was a period of great anxiety.  But, by working in partnership, we were able to confront the problem and move forward.  When I realized that students had stopped working, I could have berated them for not making more progress.   Instead, I first asked why they were not progressing.  Because I did not assume that the cause of the problem was student irresponsibility, I was able to enter into a worthwhile dialogue where both the students and I were able to address concerns and learn from our mistakes

Both the students and I bear some responsibility for the period when students stopped working.  But, more importantly, as the semester ends, we can celebrate success; a success built on faculty/student cooperation.

Post Script:  I worked hard on a blog post for last week; a post I thought would be easy to write and which proved most difficult.  After aborted writing efforts over several days resulted in only one moderately successful paragraph, I did what my students did in the middle of the semester.  I stopped working.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Credit:  Collection of John Chuckman