The Tarot of Teaching deck is a creative tool designed to enrich and energize the structure of a class period. It divides the flow of a lesson into three key stages, each represented by a different category of cards: Starting Our Journey (beginning of class), Along the Way (middle of class), and Reaching Our Destination (end of class). Each card within these categories offers a unique teaching tip aligned with its intended time in the class period, making each session more engaging, organized, and impactful.
Many educators assume that making learning easier and faster leads to better retention. However, research suggests the opposite: when learning requires more effort, it becomes stronger and lasts longer (Make It Stick: The Science of Learning, p. 9).
A simple way to enhance the effectiveness of mini-quizzes or polling questions is to shift from instructor-provided questions to having students generate their own closing questions. This approach leverages two key learning strategies. First, it requires students to identify the most important concepts from the material. Novice learners often focus on peripheral details while missing overarching themes because they lack the scaffolding and perspective of experts.
By crafting their own questions, students practice sifting through information to pinpoint critical ideas—an essential skill for deep learning. When instructors provide the questions, students miss the opportunity to develop this ability on their own.
Second, this technique moves students away from the ineffective habit of rereading. Studies show that over 80% of college students rely on rereading as their primary study strategy, despite its well-documented inefficiency. Rereading creates a false sense of familiarity without promoting mastery. Asking students to generate questions encourages them to engage actively with the material rather than passively reviewing lecture notes. This not only helps them grasp current content but also equips them with better study habits for future learning.
Beyond cognitive benefits, this activity fosters classroom community and student agency. The implementation can vary based on course content and class size. For example:
Small groups can exchange and vote on the best question.
Instructors can collect student-generated questions and use the strongest ones as review prompts for the next class.
Students can vote on one question for the instructor to answer.
A student-generated question can be included in the next exam.
Students can rank their questions to determine the most important concept in a section.
These strategies empower students to take ownership of their learning while contributing meaningfully to the classroom environment!
Next up: Card 6: Short Answer Summaries
References
Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Harvard University Press.
Niell, D. (2018, October 1). Make it Stick - The Science of Successful Learning (Sketchnote Summary) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJJCfvBqlHk&t=698s