From ‛What do you want to learn in this class?’ to ‛What did you learn in this class?’ Exploring Before and After Implications of Students’ Responses

Looking back at over my years of teaching English at university, I noticed that despite the many changes, two things have remained the same in my classroom practice: the first day questionnaire and end of term reflective report. Out of the 14 questions on the first class inquiry, my favorite question is ‘What do you want to learn in this class?’ I find the most interesting answers are located here in terms of revealing students’ initial expectations of the course. Near the end of the term, I assign a reflective report on what they learned in this class. What makes the initial responses even more memorable is placing them into a learning opportunity perspective with their final self-perceived notion of what they achieved.