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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Teaching Tips from Your TCC


Welcome back! Today’s Teaching Tip from your TCC comes from Pamela D. Korte, Nursing.

This is a teaching technique I have used over the years that holds students accountable for what transpired in class. I do not do it every class but definitely do it at the end of classes where I need to check on whether students comprehended the key objectives of class.

COLLECT A TICKET OUT THE DOOR

Holding students accountable for what transpired in class serves three purposes:
1. It communicates that importance of participation
2. It sends a message that you expect students to learn what is taught
3. It increases students' sense of competence as they master the content

How to Incorporate this Technique into the Class

We know that you taught the content. The students appeared to be with you during the class session. A few peeks over the students’ shoulders at their work indicate that students understood the information. But how do you know whether the students really got it? The use of this technique increases student accountability during class and increases their sense of responsibility for learning.

Inform students that their "ticket out the door" for the day is the correct answer to a particular question or set of short questions. One way to present this technique might be:

"I observed great participation during class today. You are probably feeling confident about what you learned. Let me make sure that you have really got it by ending the class with a "ticket out the door." Here is how it works. You answer the question I am going to give you about the material presented in class today and this is your ticket or permission to leave class. If you have the correct answer on your ticket, you can leave. If you do not have the correct answer on your ticket, I am going to hang out with you until you correctly understand the answer. Today's ticket out the door is the answer to this question....  Please stand if you know the answer. Feel free to get assistance from a class mate if you need help with the answer."

I read the answers as they leave and dismiss the students with the correct answer and work with the students that need further assistance. This technique can work with cognitive and psychomotor objectives. The technique reinforces key content and gives students an incentive to listen carefully so that they will know the answer at the end of class. I always ask questions related to key objectives reviewed in the class that a student MUST KNOW.

Reference for this technique: Hot Tips for Teachers: 30 Plus Steps to Student Engagement by Rob Abernathy and Mark Reardon, Zephyr Press, 2002.

Julie Damerell
Transitional Studies
09/24/2009