Showing Students with Low Grades "A" Papers: Not a Successful Strategy for Improved Learning

A recent study showed the downsides of presenting examples of excellence on a paper to students as it made these students feel badly -- like they could not reach the needed expectations.  In other words, as a matter of psychology, models of outstanding work were harmful, not helpful.  Students feel like dunces.  Stated differently, students who get a bad grade think they are bad.  There is a distinction that's hard for students to understand, in part because we often misspeak. Getting a grade of D is different from being a D student. That said, the article does have excellent suggestions for how to showcase quality work in ways that are not so damaging.

Now, forget for a moment whether the study was well conducted and produced statistically significant results.  Look at the comments. One in particular stands out for me -- the one that said in essence: so, we can't use red ink, we cannot make negative comments and now we cannot show excellent work.  And, we need to have personalized attention for each student.  In essence, this teacher was saying: our job is now impossible.  And, I'd add that the teacher is implying that we are coddling and hyper-sensitive.

I think the point to be taken from the study is different from the comment and actually from the article about it. The point is that we often do not pay attention to or understand the psychology of our students.  Where are they coming from in terms of learning? How do they think about themselves?  How much self-worth do they have?  For me, what this study messages is: get to know and understand your students better -- so you can help them learn better.  Ignoring "where they are" reminds me of the lessons from Maslow's hierarchy: it is hard to learn to read if you haven't had breakfast and have no bed to sleep on each night.

Obviously, the message shouldn't be never show excellent work. That makes no sense -- certainly with older students.  The question is both how to show it and when will it be effective.  Years ago, when I was teaching in a law school, I used to handout an A exam to students who received grades below C.  Well, that was a bad strategy.  First, it assumed the students actually read the A paper. Then it assumed they could distinguish their own paper from the A paper.  Then it assumed they could translate what they saw in the A paper (assuming they saw it) to their own work.  The assumptions proved false.  The A paper was not the strategy to improve the D paper, and it was not necessarily only because it made the student with the D feel bad. 

The flaw in my approach is that the student with the D did not really understand the task or even if the student understood, they could not animate that understanding; so showing a good paper did not help because they don't know what to look for in the A paper. In fact, I have had students tell me they think their D paper is just a good as the A paper, minus a few details.  What the student needed was someone to share more effectively what the student did versus what was wanted.  Now, how to do that is a difficult issue and what will help one student will not necessarily work for another student.  

But, as a teacher, all of this made me reflect on my teaching, not on the student's lack of success.  Could I teach better and more effectively? Could I better meet the students where they are and lift them up?  My message to teachers from this study: reflect on how you teach and consider changes in pedagogy that could improve learning for all.

One more point: learning is reciprocal in a school setting; there is a student-teacher give and take. There has to be a sense that the soil is fertile so learning can grow.  Perhaps that is what needs our attention: how do we create the environment in which learning for students can occur?  Showing an A paper all the time as an exemplar may hurt the soil.  Deconstructing an A paper (given that even that paper could be improved) might be helpful -- explaining it as opposed to just sharing it.  

Or, try this exercise: give students three ungraded papers in response to an assignment and see if they can distinguish among them.  Perhaps teachers will see that not all students can do that. Really.  And if they can't, showing an A paper is meaningless.  Instead, teach the students to distinguish among the papers. And, make the papers shown be ones the teacher creates, not real papers of students in the class. (And creating them allows the teacher to showcase common errors.)  Papers from a current student are bound to create stress -- for the student whose paper is shown and the ones looking at it.  

In sum, the problem with showing an A paper is that it doesn't improve learning. That's the point that we miss: whatever we do, we should be helping students learn.