The Last Class

02/04/2024 9 min

Listen "The Last Class"

Episode Synopsis

We end this academic year with an episode focused on the end of a class - what are some ways to meaningfully wrap a semester long course? I did not find a lot of great research on this topic, but certainly some valuable proposals and ideas in the literature - nothing that was measured or lead to changes empirically. Many of these ideas for the last class center on the shared humanity across teachers and students - what can we think about and discuss and making it to the end of what should have been a challenging but engaging course over three to four months. In that space, a lot of consternation and realizations can happen; pausing to discuss those and think through what went well and what could be better is a great way to close out a course meaningfully. 
 
The Last Class
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/CTCH.53.4.165-166
 
First Day and Last Day
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27561976
 
Knowing Where You’re Going: Planning for Meaningful Course Closure
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/87567555.2017.1279586