13th February 2015 6:00
By Blue Tutors
Students at Sheffield University have recently complained en masse about an exam paper which they deemed impossible. Many of the questions featured material which the students had not been taught, leading students to complain that the exam was unfair. This story got me thinking about how we teach students, and about whether there is any value in ‘the impossible’. Before I continue, there is no doubt that students whose grades suffer as a result of being examined on material they were not taught have significant grounds for grievance. It clearly isn’t fair that these students were not provided with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills fully in an official exam. But what about in a lesson? Is it ok to ask the impossible then?
I think it is not only ok, but beneficial. I once had a tutor who asked why it was assumed that students should leave a lesson feeling that they had been taught all the things they went there to learn. Why can’t we leave them with questions, still thinking, and trying to tackle the ideas that we discussed? This goes to the heart of the question of what we as educators are trying to achieve when we walk into a tutorial. In many cases we have limited scope, as we are hired late in the day specifically to prepare students for exams. When this happens, our job is to make sure our students are know and understand the material, and are able to translate this understanding into good exam answers.
However, to be really excellent educators, we need to encourage our students to think more broadly, to challenge themselves and the world around them, and to consider the wider implications of the topics under discussion. We need to ask difficult, even impossible questions. This is a different kind of teaching to one which prepares students for exams. Here we don’t want students to be clear on everything – we want them to question, to reconsider, and even to be confused. This is the kind of thinking which truly expands students’ minds, and gets them thinking in new ways. Sometimes, the impossible to answer question is the one which teaches students the most.