The Skillful Teacher

The Learning Audit
In the learning audit students are asked to respond to three ques-
tions at the end of the last class of the week:
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What do I know now that I didn’t know this time last week?
What can I do now that I couldn’t do this time last week?
What could I teach others to know or do that I couldn’t teach
them last week?
The origins of this instrument lie in students’ complaints that
they are learning nothing, making no progress, getting nowhere. It’s
pretty depressing to hear a student say this, particularly if you know
it might indeed be true. However, another interpretation of these
complaints is also possible. It could be the case that small incre-
mental learning gains are being made without students noticing that
this is happening. In completing the audit, learners sometimes real-
ize that more is going on than they had assumed. Over several weeks
students can review their audit responses and notice that by putting
together the small things they are able to know and do at the end
of each week some cumulative progress has occurred.