In this video, we will discuss how you can improve
students' experience with the seminary learning
assessment--before you administer it,
during the assessment, and after it has been administered.
The seminary learning assessment has improved students'
seminary experience.
Brother Chad Webb, an administrator
in Seminary and Institutes of Religion,
and various seminary students discuss how the assessment
has blessed their lives.
Someone might ask, "Do you really
think that creating a learning assessment
is going to bless our students to have
a deepening of conversion?"
My answer is yes.
I feel like I was taking seminary more
seriously--actually paying attention in class and learning
the lessons.
I've taken seminary for three years.
The memorizing part I didn't really
care to do because there was no point.
But after this year and being tested,
I took it more seriously and was able to memorize.
Preparing for the test helped because while we
were reviewing, I was able to think of more questions,
ask why that was exactly the right answer,
and realize why everything was right on the test.
I was able to focus on it instead
of just coming to seminary.
It has a good spirit, but now I come here
to learn and prepare myself to know the doctrine
and know the gospel.
One of the best ways you can prepare students
to have a successful experience with the assessment
is to consistently teach, emphasize, and review
the major doctrines and principles of the course.
Here are a few ideas of what you can do before administering
the assessment.
You're going to sit down before the test even happens
and make sure that your students have
been taught the things that are on the test.
I think the key to giving the learning assessment
is aptly preparing your students by being a consistent teacher.
He made us want to know it for ourselves.
He told us that we'd have this test,
and during our lessons if there were
key points he was supposed to teach, he would emphasize them.
He would not necessarily say, "This
is going to be on the test," but he
would make it so that point was the most meaningful part
of the lesson.
I think the key is to be up-front and outspoken
about it.
My students knew it was coming.
They knew it would be expected.
They knew that I thought they could succeed.
And they knew that I'd prepared them well.
The learning assessment cannot be an end-of-the-semester
thing.
It must be a constant thing that you're preparing them for.
And then when they get there, it really
can turn into something of an accomplishment for them.
Pause the video, and review the section
of the handout that discusses the best practices
to use before the learning assessment.
Write down a couple things you can do throughout the course
to prepare students to succeed on the learning assessments.
Administer the learning assessment
in a manner that invites the Spirit.
A few students explain how their teachers helped them
during the assessment.
What our seminary teacher did was
give an aura of "We want you to know it"
and not "You don't know it and that's bad."
They said, "We just want to make sure
that you know these things, and that's
why we're taking the test."
Sister Walton never let us think negatively about it.
She was like, "Guys, we have this assessment.
Let's do it."
And that's just the way she is; she's fantastic.
She had a very positive energy about it,
and I think that made going into it a lot easier.
Pause the video, and review the section
of the handout that discusses the best practices
to use during the learning assessment.
Write down a couple ways in which
you can improve how you introduce and administer
the assessment.
After students take the assessment,
review it with them in a way that
deepens conversions, allows students to share and testify,
and helps clarify any misunderstood doctrines.
Watch how one teacher reviewed the assessment,
and then listen as students and teachers
discuss how reviewing the learning assessment
changed the experience they had taking it.
When I was asked by the central office
to discuss the test with the students, they said,
"We want to see you make it a teaching experience."
It was a struggle for me.
I thought, "How could I do that better?"
But ultimately I just decided on two questions.
Which questions did you find difficult
or did you maybe guess on?
We're going to chat about those after we correct the test.
Which questions do you feel are the most important
for teenagers to know and understand?
Would you flip through the questions if you're done
and have a couple numbers in mind?
(Sister Walton) Let's talk about questions you might have had.
Sarah, do you have another question?
(Sarah) Can you explain number 19?
(Sister Walton) Let's go to number 19.
The answer for 19 was supposed to be B, correct?
Just making sure I didn't get a different answer.
(Boy) What does "stake in the homeland" mean?
(Sister Walton) I know!
(Sister Walton) Any questions that you
felt are the most important for teenagers
to know and understand?
Noah, please.
(Noah) I liked the essay.
(Sister Walton) Cool.
Let's go to the essay.
Talk to me about the essay and things you thought
were cool about it, Noah.
(Noah) I just remember that in conference
they were talking about how important
it is for us to have a testimony of Joseph Smith,
especially in these days.
My mom would always check up on me
and be like, "Noah, do you believe in Joseph Smith?"
She'd ask me all these questions,
so I think it was really cool that some of the test
focused on that and that it helps us keep that testimony.
It changed the outlook of the test.
Rather than just going in and taking a test,
it changed it into more of a discussion
and more of a testimony builder.
It's one of those tests that you want to talk about.
You want to discuss it.
I would say that without the discussion
about the assessment, I could have cared less
about the assessment.
It wouldn't have mattered to me because otherwise it's just
another test that you take.
Discussing and applying it helps you go deeper
instead of being like, "This is a test;
this is what we are taking."
It brings the Spirit in, and I think you learn by the Spirit.
It was good last time, but I think
that today was exceptional.
I saw the learning assessment being used in the way
that I think it should be used.
I saw the assessment turn into a teaching tool.
What I feel like I've learned is that discussion
makes a difference.
By discussing the assessment after having taken it,
students walk away with a different feeling.
The first time I did the first half of the assessment,
they walked away and felt like they took a test.
After the second time, I felt like the Spirit
was in the classroom and you could feel it.
The students' answers had such great depth to them,
and I think they walked away with a different feeling.
I think they walked away uplifted.
Review the section of the handout that discusses the best
practices to use after the learning assessment,
and write down how you can use the "Fundamentals of Gospel
Teaching and Learning" to provide opportunities
for students to ask questions, share,
and testify during the review.
(end music)