Revising the Last Lesson- What do I really want students to walk away pondering?

In Chapter 6 of Naming What We Know (Adler-Kassner and Wardle), Heidi Estrem speaks of the complications and possible benefits of using threshold concepts instead of student learning outcomes. Estrem points out that “as a faculty member, [she] ha[s] seen firsthand how productive it can be to rearticulate course content as objectives or outcomes that can be identified to students and to which course materials are explicitly linked [...] outcomes-based approaches can be enormously useful tools for curricular development in higher education, then, particularly when no prior curricular framework existed” (91). I too, have had this experience.

At the end of each class, I revisit the course objectives with the students.  I ask them to reflect on whether or not they feel, personally, as if they can “check them off the list”.  Looking back on the thresholds I was most drawn to, I see how this may be problematic to the overall ideas and concepts that I wanted to impart during the course- one of which highlighting that “All Writers Have More to Learn” (58); within this threshold concept, the ideas that “Failure can be an Important Part of Writing Development”(62) and “Learning to Write Effectively Requires Different Kinds of Practice, Time, and Effort” (64) more accurately convey the intent of my course, the motivation behind the course activities, and the writing knowledge that I hope they take away from the course.

Now, as Estrem acknowledges, there are many national, institutional, departmental, and instructor-specific challenges in pursuing a her agenda-- I don’t think it’s feasible.  Nonetheless, I believe I will be amending my final lesson to bring into focus the main concepts I’d like my students to achieve/ recognize during their time with me.