wow, what a rollarcoaster. Yesterday felt like a great class session and I was really looking forward to today. We were going to dig into the roleplays that were introduced. Then major set of absences. Not only that, but the missing-in-action students were the most high-energy, verbal class participants. So there we were doing roleplays with the shyer ones. It was awkward and hard to gauge if anything productive came out of but on another level it was great to have those who hold back to have to step forward. Moving out of the comfort zone, I guess.

 
Monday class had 45 minutes or so talking about the test. It was pointed out that many questions, the multiple choice, split hairs. There were several close answers that might be considered correct. Some of these feelings came from personal background and do not reflect much absorbtion of the reading or course content. Not that personal background should be invalidated. The question becomes what is the point of the test - to gauge reading comprehension or process of the issues around conflict resolution?
Some students have come, or plan to come, to get more test credit for these messy questions. I also have learned from this experience and will take this in account as I develop the next test. It's great to have this level of investment about the course from the students and I should really keep this in mind.
Wednesday's class I did more of a lecture format for a while and then set up group activities. This worked really well and I am eager for more follow up on Thursday.

 
The results of test 1 were interesting. Class average of 79%, spread smoothly from A-Fs instead of a bell curve. Noticable problems with perceived scarce resouces, perceived goal incompatibility and interference. We will review some of this stuff.
It's apparent that the direction of the course has been confusing. I have been avoiding talking about techniques but focusing upon the nature of conflict. Not a very unfamiliar topic for students but one that can be underestimated. I need to be more explicite about the purpose of this part of the semester.