How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Week of May 23, 2011

Muddiest Point

Description: Muddiest Point is a commonly used, quick monitoring technique in which students are asked to take a few minutes to jot down what the most difficult or confusing part of a lesson was for them (Angelo & Cross, 1993).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning: The Muddiest Point provides a metacognitive opportunity for students to think about their own learning and what is difficult or easy for them to understand. It is especially helpful when students encounter new information, deal with complicated procedures, or engage in discussions that result in cognitive conflict. This FACT provides a comfortable way for students who are reluctant to speak out and let others know when they are having difficulty understanding a concept or performing a skill.

How This FACT Informs Instruction: The Muddiest Point is a feedback and monitoring strategy used to efficiently collect information on what students find most difficult or confusing about a lesson or part of a lesson. It can be used any time during instruction, including the spur of the moment, when teachers detect that students may be experiencing difficulty understanding or performing a task. The information is used as instructional feedback to address student difficulties. Teachers can quickly administer, collect, and sort responses to make immediate decisions about instruction for the class or for individual students. It can also be used at the end of a lesson to assess where students are in understanding the key ideas or skills of the lesson. The information helps the teacher prepare for strategies or activities that will address students’ difficulties in the next lesson.

Design and Administration: At a determined point during an activity, lab, presentation, discussion, video, or assigned reading, distribute half sheets of paper or index cards. Ask students to describe the “muddiest point” of the lesson thus far. Clarify what is meant by muddiest point. For example, a high school chemistry teacher using this FACT at the end of a lesson to assess students’ content understanding might say, “So far today we have been learning about the patterns that informed the design of the Periodic Table. What has been the muddiest point so far in today’s lesson for you? Please take a few minutes to jot down any ideas or parts of the lesson that were confusing or difficult for you to understand so I can address them in class tomorrow.”

Let students know why you are asking for this information. Collect their responses and decide how the information will inform the rest of the lesson or the following lesson. Be sure to let students know how you plan to use their reponses. When they understand that the information is seriously considered by you to make changes that will benefit them, they will respond thoughtfully and with detail. After reading the responses and taking action, share with students examples of the responses that informed your instructional decisions.

General Implementation Attributes: Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low Cognitive Demand: Low/Medium

Modifications: This strategy can also be used with homework and in-class assignments. It can be combined with a question asking students what could be done to help clear up the “muddy points” for them. Caveats: This FACT focuses on the negative, rather than the positive. Vary this strategy with POMS-Point of Most Significance to provide opportunities for students to identify the most significant part of a lesson or the parts of the lesson that were best understood.

This FACT can be used in the following disciplines: Muddiest Point can be used in science, math, social studies, language arts, health, foreign language, and performing arts.

Keeley, Paige. (2008) Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press