Combining Deming and Bloom to improve student-centered classroom learning

James a Hills'

"Better Teaching with Deming and Bloom"

Quality Progress 37:3 p 57-64.

The article is a case for combing the techniques of two men, Deming and Bloom, to help students and teachers better design assignments to met the individual needs of the student. By using a rubric based on the assignment and the objectives of the assignment, the mentor or teacher can adjust each assignment to help maximize the potential of each individual student. The author uses a case study to describe how the rubric would work for a writing assignment. He shows how a student with poor skills in making a paper "reader friendly" would benefit from the rubric. Mr. Hills also uses his experience in the classroom as a basis of his article. He cites his success in using this technique as a positive argument.

Mr. Hills discusses each of his twelve points in turn and provides reasons to implement the technique in the classroom. He uses the classroom as sort of an office space with each student being a part of the system. The teacher becomes more of a mentor instead of a lecturer and the teacher's desk is turned into a help desk. Each student then becomes more responsible and in charge of their own pace and success in learning. The author also states that it allows student to do peer mentoring in the form of "interns" for those who show superior skills in a given subject or in a given skill that is part of the learning objectives of the assignment.

Main Point

The main point of the article is to persuade educators to adopt this technique in their classrooms. Mr. Hills shows how to construct a rubric that allows a teacher and a student to focus on certain skills within a learning assignment to not only increase the student's knowledge of the material but also the student's individual skill set. Mr. Hill suggests using a point system in the rubric to show the areas that a student needs work on. He uses the example of a writing assignment to show how a mentor can demonstrate to a student the specific areas they need work on. In the example, the student was told that he had a lot of information in his paragraphs but because of this, his paper was not "reader friendly." The mentor then tells the student that he needs to work on his organizational skills. When asked about organizational skills, the mentor directs the student to a glossary to look up the definition and then also to a fellow student, designated as an intern and who has shown superior aptitude in the skill, for help. As the author goes through the article, he demonstrates with each point how his technique not only improves the retention of material by the students, but also their individual skill set.

Author's argument

The author uses a case study and examples from his own teaching experience to promote his ideas. He presents the study in a conversation form then uses example rubric's to show how the mentoring relationship works and how the mentor/teacher uses the computer and other resources to encourage the student to achieve the skills desired.

Author's Conclusion

The author concludes at the end of the article, that if educators would start employing the techniques he has listed in the article, they will see not only an increase in their students' grades but also in the students' ability to accomplish life skills. They would also see an increase in their students' retention of the material that is being studied.

Suggested fixes

To fix the first problem, the author needs to explain in more detail in how instituting this technique with result in the need for less classroom space. If the students need resources and space to move around to the help desk, would not classroom space still be needed? It would be helpful if the author included a diagram of how he set up his classroom for the implementation of the technique also it would help if he included testimony from other educators on to the effectiveness of this technique in reducing classroom space.

To answer the questions that arise, the author needed to spend less time arguing for the technique through the case study and more time explaining how the technique works and how you address the concerns of the student who are achieving success at a much higher rate. He also needs to address the concerns about the presentation of material and what resources are needed for said presentation.

Strengths

The main strength of the article is the use of the case study. It does allow the reader to see the technique in action. While it does bring up the above questions, it gives a good example of how the technique could be applied to a writing assignment.

A second strength is the listing of the twelve benefits of the program. It gives the reader a good set of reasons to implement the program. If a teacher is wondering about those benefits so they can be explained to an administrator they are listed for the educator to use.

Impression

Overall the article is well written and provides a compelling argument for implementing the technique described. The only issues that arise are the ones addressed. The article is informative and allows the reader to think about whether or not the technique would be applicable in their own classroom.

Affects of the article

The affect of the article is two-fold. The first affect would be for the educator to want to implement the technique within their own classroom setting, which is the intent of the article. The reader then would have to research the issue further to see if this particular method of instruction was successful in other classroom settings and seek to adapt the method to their own classroom and subject matter. Finally the reader would have to present this article and a procedure of implementation to their administration for approval.

The second reaction could be the opposite one. The reader may notice the problems presented above and decide not to implement the procedure as demonstrated. They may also decide to modify it in a way that would allow for them to have success in their own classroom settings.