Week 5: Similarities & Differences, Generating & Testing Hypotheses and Homework & Practice

I can think of a time when I asked intermediate-level sailing students to identify the similarities and differences between the single sail (cat-rigged) and boats with a main and a jib sail (sloop-rigged). The students had already achieved proficiency with boats but were now embarking into more advanced sailing theory where they would take turns acting as skipper and crew of a sloop. I asked the students to identify what was similar on the sloop or different from the smaller cat-rigged boats. The students compared and contrasted the boats, identified new components and hypothesized about their relationship to the boat. I followed-up with 5 minutes of sailing theory and then we set sail. Similarities and differences, in this case, was an effective strategy to help students restructure knowledge, make new connections and experience new insights for upcoming on-water instruction.

Out on Lake Mendota I decided to employ a different strategy: generating and testing hypotheses. I asked the students to think about how they might optimize the trim of both sails to maximize boat speed. The students were asked to speculate as a group, tell we what they were going to try and why, and then see what happened when they made adjustments to the rigging. Running the same course to eliminate as many variables as possible, I acted as the timekeeper and recorded how long it took to cover 200 yards. I presented the times for each run and the students discussed and thought of new things to try to increase the boat speed. By asking students to generate and test hypotheses I engaged students in complex mental processes where they applied and incorporated new facts and knowledge to further their understanding of the content (advanced sailing theory).

Stepping away from the fun of teaching sailing and back into the workplace, I can think of a time that I assigned homework and practice and not a single student did it! How I had failed so miserably to motivate my students? The whole point of assigning homework and practice was to give the students a chance to review and apply course material. Sure some of it was drill and practice, but I wanted employees to immerse themselves in the work and gain greater proficiency with the content. Well, the problem was two-fold: I had given 3 hours of homework with only one day in between for them to complete the assignments and their supervisors had 'other plans' for the employees' time.

I met with the team supervisors and we discussed what might be a good compromise that would work for everyone. I agreed to break the homework into two 90 minute chunks with 3 days between assignment due dates. The supervisors, in turn, vowed to block-out two 2 hour segments on the employees' calendars for work on assignments. In hindsight, this new approach was a major improvement as it made the homework more effective by being broken into halves and thereby giving employees a chance to reflect and deepen their understanding of the content. Also, collaborating with the team supervisors gave me the opportunity to express how homework and practice was a critical strategy to help their subordinates gain proficiency with company products.