Purpose Statement
Students need to have metacognitive awareness of their time
management skills in order to accurately predict the time they will need to
effectively complete homework assignments.
Description of
Activity
Students are given a “Real Time Assignment Log” in which
they preview their assignment (such as reading a short story and writing a
personal response to the reading). Students they make and record an estimate of
how long it will take them to complete the assignment thoroughly. Next, every
time the student works on the assignment, he or she logs in the time spent on
it, until the assignment is completed. At that time, the “real time” that it
took the student to complete the assignment is compared to the estimated time.
The students comment on their findings in writing and in classroom discussion.
Materials Needed
• “Real Time Assignment Log” sheet (1 per student)
• 15 minutes of class time to explain task, and complete preview and estimate
portions of the assignment
• 15-20 minutes of class time to discuss findings
Application
Some students may be intimidated by having to tell their
instructors how long they spent on an assignment. In this case, I would
recommend providing an option to turn in the assignments anonymously for anyone
who is uncomfortable sharing the information. Students can even exchange log
papers anonymously for discussion, so that they are not discussing themselves,
but the person’s findings in front of them.
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web page was created on 2/24/99 at 9:21:18 PM
and modified on 6/6/99 at 4:31:50 PM