Dealing With Differing Levels of Abilities

Last week I began using the Wall Street Journal in my classes. As I mentioned last week, at the beginning of a new semester, reading and utilizing the Wall Street Journal is usually awkward for students. Many students are not accustomed to reading newspapers daily (except maybe the sports page!). Usually the first few weeks are awkward and rough. Things always improve as the semester naturally progresses. (For more detail, please see my blog postings for early in the fall 2005 semester.)

This semester I seem to have the opposite challenge. My teaching schedule includes two undergraduate Introduction to Financial Accounting classes (A201) and one graduate course in business law and ethics. In each of the first classes we were to begin using the Journal, several students volunteered to present an article and lead a discussion - and they did a great job.

The students selected articles that related to industries that were interesting to the students. They thought beyond the information in the article to application to course material, connections to concepts from other courses (ex. supply-demand-price relationships from economics), and connections with articles on similar topics in other issues of the paper. Wow! I was blown away. My Supplemental Instructor (student helper) Jessica who has worked with me for many semesters in A201 was pleasantly surprised as well. I never thought I would ever have such a great and well-poised start to the semester. Jessica and I had never seen such enthusiastic volunteering at the beginning of a semester. Imagine where we will be as the semester progresses!

That's the good news. Now the challenge: I could tell that many of the other students were intimidated by the success and accomplishments of the first volunteers. How can I encourage high standards but encourage students who are starting at different levels as they learn and develop?

Many of my students are not sophisticated in current events and the business world. A relatively high percentage are first-generation college students. Almost half of our student body is considered non-traditional (over 25 years of age). These statistics are what tend to make using the Journal awkward initially, but so rewarding by the end of the semester.

A big key to this success is that many other instructors in my school are beginning to use the Journal now. By the time students enter my class, many have read the journal for other classes in previous semesters. But for other students, this is their first introduction to reading a major newspaper and discussing current events in class.

My solution to helping students who are intimidated by the 'pros' who are performing at high levels right off the bat is to do what I always do - be honest. I told the class that these students were modeling where we are heading. Everyone should shoot for that kind of analysis and current event discussions. The bar will rise as we proceed through the semester.

One of the best parts of using the Journal in business classes is the flexibility it offers for individual growth. For those who are not as gifted in this area, I encourage their efforts. Any gains in these skills are productive. For those who are more advance, I use the Socratic Method to push them to higher levels. Now that is a great teaching/learning tool!