One of the recommendations that we have for Arlene is to assign the students to small groups, of about 5. Everyday choose one student randomly to present to their group about the material that was supposed to be read for that day. This would give incentive to everybody to have the material read for that day, to be prepared in case it was their turn to present. If someone is not prepared to present, they will get docked points for that day. When they present they should thoroughly understand the material to be able to present it well to their group. Another recommendation is to have the students create flashcards of terms, concepts and diagrams that are taken from a list given by Arlene. The students quiz each other everyday with the flashcards and at the end of the week take a quiz over that material. This will give the students repeated exposure to the material and also get them interacting more with the material. The students will be pointed in the right direction of what is expected of them.
The last recommendation we have for Arlene is to give a worksheet out to do while the students are reading the material. It should include rote and critical thinking questions. This would keep them focused on the material and also cause them to interact with it more.
In this example, the group proposes several tactics—group presentations of material, flashcards, and worksheets. The rationale focuses on motivating students to learn, repeated exposure, clarifying the teacher's expectations, and "interacting" with the material. This group does not make the connection to principles of learning as a constructive, sense making activity.
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