Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning

by James M. Lang

At the beginning of the class, unit, or course, give students a brief pretest on the material. For example, give an opening-week pretest that is similar in format to the final exam. Prior to first content exposure, ask students to write down what they already know about that subject matter or to speculate about what they will be learning. When presenting cases, problems, examples, or histories, stop before the conclusion and ask students to predict the outcome. When you are teaching a new cognitive skill (e.g., writing in a new genre), let students try their hand at it (and receive feedback) before they feel ready. Close class by asking students to make predictions about material that will be covered in the next class session.