Sonic cognition - a simple activity to teach students how to ‘do' exams

My 91-year-old grandmother refuses to have an ATM card. Actually, even phones with touch pads prove too awkward. She doesn't really understand what the internet is. When we sit down to watch a film, she chooses texts from the 1950s - All That Heaven Allows comes to mind. She finds the films that my six-year-old son views as a total visual and aural assault, perhaps even a violent one.

The differences in how my grandmother and my son absorb and respond to stimuli are at polar opposites. This juxtaposition made me think about the students I teach. They are not of my generation, I cannot send text messages without looking at my phone while watching Video Hits – they can!

The students I teach have provided me with ample evidence that they respond to electronic media very well. They can scan through texts and interpret information, weaving through electronic pages, clicking ideas on and off, sorting, sifting and evaluating the worth of the material with a superior confidence. They are the sonic generation.

So why are so many on a ‘go slow' when writing responses in formal examinations (especially extended ones)? In class they have the ideas and at home they can produce great extended written responses to hand in as assignments. It is frustrating, as a marker, when you can intuitively feel that the student understands the concept but has provided a simplistic and watered down answer.

As educators, many of us work closely with syllabi, concentrate on outcomes and focus on how that manifests within the classroom. We teach content and the skills with a range of pedagogical activities, supporting a variety of ability levels (not to mention the social curriculum, school values, competencies, vocational education, literacy outcomes, numeracy outcomes and the range of other expectations imposed upon tired, and sometimes, overwhelmed teachers).

However, with those momentous tasks in mind, I realised that I was neglecting to teach the ‘rules' and ‘game plans' for formal examinations. I recognised that my students gave sonic reactions and responses to stimuli. However, they experienced difficulty synthesising information and blasting that out with the humble pen and paper (and a peppering of ‘time' as an added pressure). Sonic cognition combined with sonic composing? How could I help?

From the beginning of the year, I decided to explicitly focus students on how to interpret questions, to try and see it from a ‘marker's' point of view. Every time the class had to write formally, whether it was short answer or extended responses, we spent some time discussing the wording of the question. This is normal practice for most teachers.

Naturally, I spent time exposing the class to the language of examinations and assessment. Words like ‘how', ‘explain', ‘outline', ‘describe', ‘justify', ‘discuss', ‘analyse' as a few examples, were thrashed around in class discussion. As a group, we decided what ‘ingredients' should be incorporated into a ‘quality' answer.

As a class, we were finally speaking a common language. I decided not to waste any words in the classroom. My focus was to teach the ‘language of learning', in other words, the language of the syllabus, my subject and, most importantly, the language of assessment. This language, and the exploration of it, was a focus for a portion of nearly every period. I felt at ease doing this, as I was not teaching ‘to' the exams, I was teaching the unwritten rules of exams. Why should they be a secret?

From this evolved the ‘sonic cognition' activities. Students needed to reflect upon their abilities to compose quality responses under examination conditions. To create answers written with the pressure of time constraints is a skill that needs to be taught.

Here is an outline of a typical ‘sonic cognition' lesson. I believe this concept could be used across all Key Learning Areas very easily.

After the class had fully explored a text (or portion of it) and I felt that they understood much of the ‘content' of the text, we moved on to exploring the ‘skills' needed to display that knowledge in formal exams.

Firstly, with little explanation of the concept (as I wanted students to experience it for themselves), I gave a question and the students only had two minutes to compose a response. Some had ‘mental blocks', some faltered at the start and some jumped in head first.

I then asked them to count how many words they had written. If I had not witnessed it, I would have found it hard to believe, but they loved the competition of word length. ‘Hands up if you achieved 30 words or more?' This question sent excitement through the class. They realised that it was a bit of a game … they thought they had worked out the rules of the competition. They believed that quantity mattered.

Then we listened to volunteers read their answers. Naturally, we had agreed to be ‘kind' while listening to others. We recognised that this was a difficult activity and that we were not going to be too judgemental. Volunteers were happy to have a laugh and read what they composed (some were surprised that they could not even read their own handwriting - a good lesson for them!).

While we were listening to student responses, I asked the class to find qualities that we could give the ‘readers' credit for … (mentioning key words of the question, making a clear thesis point, using sophisticated language, providing relevant evidence, and so on).

So, ‘unofficially', the class was coming to terms with what a quality answer could actually be - under pressure of time constraints. Then I handed out a sample of a ‘quality' answer. After reading that, the class reflected on the qualities of their own answer. Many students were happy to admit that they did not quite attain to the ideal of the ‘quality' answer. Some were inspired, realising that they could improve dramatically and easily, if they shift their focus and language just a little.

The next round of ‘sonic cognition' began with a new question. All heads were down this time. Many students were focused on creating a ‘quality' answer, and some just on furthering their personal best, based on the amount of words that they wrote. As I saw it, it did not really matter. I realised that they did not love doing this to compete against each other … it was clearly about their self-designed ‘personal bests'.

Again I called, ‘Pens down, count your words'. In an excited flurry, students were motivated to share their experiences, word counts and ideas. Some students found that they wrote less but included more elements of a ‘quality' answer. Some were happy that they could just write more. There was not one student who was not satisfied with their achievement. It was an activity where they could not really go wrong.

After listening to student answers, and a prepared quality answer, students again reflected upon their own writing. They could see that it was possible to improve on this important examination skill, with just a touch of practice and a pinch of reflection.

Believe it or not, that was almost 50 minutes of the period gone.

I was interested in gathering some student responses to this activity. I asked students to complete a short reflection activity, which many shared with each other quite happily. The question was simple, ‘What do you think was the most important thing that you learnt this lesson?'

Corey stated, ‘I know it is important to be as detailed as possible when giving an answer'.

Wayne said, ‘If I take care to use better language, my answer works'.

Sally recognised that using quotes or evidence can enhance an answer.

Matthew was just happy to admit that he felt that writing with time constraints was a very difficult task. He recognised that he found it difficult and that he needed to work on it.

What did I learn? Where do I begin?

I realised that students appreciate understanding ‘rules' of ‘doing' examinations (or any other cognitive activity) and playing out familiar game plans according to the ‘rules'. I discovered that students are very comfortable in a competitive environment if they can just concentrate on their own personal bests. I, now, am committed to teaching the language of assessment explicitly to students, so that they feel empowered and positive towards these tasks.

Later, I was pleased to perceive that this activity works very well with students who struggle with the curriculum and students who are gifted and talented. It is a simple activity that I incorporate into my lessons, every now and then, and has been a ‘winner' every single time.

Examinations require very specific skills and if we don't teach those skills while we teach our curriculum, we are not giving our students the best opportunities to display all those wonderful thoughts that they have developed throughout the units of work we have been orchestrating. This is just one way that I have tried to enhance students' points of view, sets of skills and confidence on the (potentially) difficult examination rituals. Making it fun certainly did make a difference.