Weak Students

December 26, 2019

By Professor Dr Maung

Weak students in the class

Along the carrier as a teacher, I have encountered weak students in every batches, whose performances were far below satisfactory. I feel it is my primary duty as a teacher to help them and make them successful in their academic endeavor.

Because of two reasons. Firstly, these weak students require more attention and closer supervision. More importantly, the future life of these students is in the hands of teachers. If we see them as voyagers who are travelling by a boat, they are like those tangling the edges of the boat. Anytime, they will drop into the water and left behind.

I have joined the teaching profession as soon as I was graduated as a medical doctor, mainly because I prefer to deal with the students rather than with the patients. In my early days of teaching, when I encountered weak students who repeatedly failed in exams, I regarded them as scandalous, lazy and stupid. However, for now, after nearly 40 years of dealing with them, my outlook upon them is changed. I view them as equivalent to patients who are coming to a doctor. The patients are sick people who are having defective physical and mental health. The weak students, to me, are like patients. They are defective in knowledge and behavior in academic endeavor. As it is the duty of a doctor to treat the patient to become healthy, so is the duty of a teacher to teach the weak students to become successful.

In this article I am presenting the ways to coach the weak students based on my experiences.

Firstly, loving kindness and sincere volition

I feel there is a perceptual connection between a student and a teacher. Through this connection, a student can sense whether the teacher is truly having-kind intention upon him to become a good guy and successful.

I found that the loving kindness and sincere volition of the teacher is the real touching factor for the student to change him.

Study Behavior

Understanding the difference between ‘Hard study’ and ‘Smart study’ will help the student to study effectively.

I usually tell the students in my lectures about a ’Lever’ as an example of Smart study. The mechanism of a Lever is based on the principle of ‘Mechanical advantage’ in Physic. The fact that, a huge heavy stone that cannot be moved by bare hands can be easily done so by using a Lever is an analogy of effective study.

Peer Learning/Collaborative Learning

I found that grouping the weak students and let them learn from each other by doing discussion among themselves is the effective method of learning for them. This is to involve all the students in the active discussion on a topic given prior to them. The role of a teacher is just to prompt all of them to participate in the discussion. The teacher is taking the seat out of the group or behind the group to let the students making discussion to each other.

Peer Learning has a number of advantages.

1. Students often learn better from each other than from a teacher.

2. It is the more interesting way of learning than by learning alone.

3. Students can practice the basic of teamwork as it builds mutual respect for and confidence in one another.

4. It is the active way of learning, rather than as passive recipients of information transmitted by the teacher.

5. Students can realize their own area of weakness in knowledge.

6. Students can exchange the understandings among each other.

7. Students can practice in searching, collecting, analyzing, evaluating and organizing the information for presentation.

8. By explaining to others, students can vividly remember what is already learned.

Sitting at the front seats during a lecture

Asking them to seat at the front seats during a lecture make them feel that they are under attention by the teacher. Moreover, they are also prevented from being distracted by others.

Note Taking

Having clear and complete notes help them learning the information and also help them to be reviewed before a test. They should be guided in doing a good note-taking.

Time management

All successful persons who are top on their respective fields are having the habit of effective time management. The principles of proper time management can plan their daily schedule effectively.

Practicing the old exam questions

It is different between the understanding the subject matter and being able to answering it in the exam. Asking them to practice the old exam questions so that they can answer according to what is asking within time allotment.

Taking care of Health

Indoor games, group physical activities, and group mindfulness practice are to be scheduled.

Extra curriculum activities

Group discussion and comments on a particular article, biography, or on a chapter of a book are helpful to gain their extra curriculum knowledge.

Outdoor activities such as camping, short trips, and long-distance walking are to be arranged at the end of some week-ends.

Challenges to be faced

To me, it is important for a teacher to understand the principles of ‘Peer Learning/Collaborative Learning’ if he is using this method. He should also be tactful to prompt the silent students and vocal students equally participate in the discussion.

The size of the group also matters. The number of students should not exceed 12 in a group so that each and every one has a chance of participating in discussion.

The main challenge I faced was the absentees. A student, when absent for twice, might have issues beyond the academic reasons. One of the students among them, I noticed, was absent for quite often. When I personally discussed with her, it was revealed that her boyfriend was not happy about this session. So, after her boyfriend was put into the group, the problem was solved. Other issues such as health condition, family matters, financial matters, substances abuses, or indulgence in gambling, cannot be solved by teacher alone. In these cases, necessary coordinated managements should be looked for.

Self-assessment

At the end of each lesson, a simple self-assessment by answering four questions will be helpful as the feed-back for the progress. These questions are to tick the corresponding box on a paper, anonymously.

1. I don’t understand yet ……………………………….

2. I am beginning to understand ……………………..

3. I understand, and I can do

this by myself……..

4. I understand, and I can teach someone else….

Take away

There are weak students in every batches of the classes, whose future life are in the hands of the teacher.

It is the important duty of a teacher to make them successful in their academic endeavor.

It will be an extra burden and out of the routine for a teacher to take care of these students. This is why loving kindness and genuine volition upon them are required to do so.

The values of loving kindness and genuine volition cannot be measured in terms of money. However, these will definitely give rise to righteous results.

References:

1. Peer Learning: Enhancing Student Learning Outcomes.

Professor Mathew C.E.Gwee. Centre for Development of Teaching & Learning. National University of Singapore.

www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/sucess/sl13.htm

2. What is Collaborative Learning?

Smith B.L, MacGregor J.T. Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education.

https://www.evergreen.edu

3. Collaborative learning. Wikipedia.

https//en.wikipedia.org