Facilitating a CLEP Study Group

Creating an effective CLEP course for your students (and their friends!) is very rewarding. Don’t think you have to be an expert in the subject at hand. You can create an educational experience for your student that will be engaging and rewarding, and that leads them to earning college credit.

When I suggested to my own then 7th and 8th grader students that we try a CLEP test, they were willing, but I could hear hesitation in my daughter’s voice. So, I added an incentive by suggesting that we invite a few friends and I would facilitate a Study Group! Now I really had their attention and her hesitation turned to enthusiasm. Let’s just be clear. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, or what this would entail. My kids made a list of their friends, but I only reached out and invited those who called me Mrs. Frame. I was nervous about leading a group of students and thought I would stack the deck with kids that would not role their eyes when I said, “I don’t know!” and I anticipated that would happen a lot.

We met for just 8 weeks through the summer – six students and my adult friend who wanted to earn her college degree (which she went on to do!). Not everyone took the test and not everyone passed. But all students grew in confidence. For some, it was like eating potato chips … open the bag and you just don’t stop!

Get Ready

Since that first study group, I have gone on to really enjoy facilitating CLEP classes. While the subject matter changes, the formula is the same.

Comprehensive: Start with building a solid learning experience whether or not the student is interested in clepping. The course is designed to stand on its own (for HS credit if you homeschool), yet has built in resources to make it cleppable for those wanting to take the CLEP exam. Some students are intimidated by thinking they HAVE to test at the end of the class. Instead, let them know that the exam is an optional ‘final’ at the end of the course.

Second, as a facilitator, consider it your role to know what the students NEED to know to pass the official CLEP or DSST exam. This will take a considerable investment on your part. It is what separates a typical high school course from one that is cleppable. Study the exam content and build lessons that include exam-specific content. Essential resources include: Official CLEP Study Guide from College Board; the REA book if it is a CLEP exam; feedback from the InstantCert forum; practice test questions from REA, Petersons online exams, and the CollegeBoard CLEP Study Guide; tips from free-clep-prep.com.

Select Engaging Materials: Students who find the materials engaging and the method of delivery manageable are more likely to succeed. Avoid using college textbooks as they usually offer too much information that is unnecessary at this level and can be dry. Also, limit the amount of material included in your course. More is not always better, sometimes it becomes overwhelming. Do your homework and make limited suggestions. Check out my 3 Course Guides for Environmental Science, Psychology, and World Religions.

Include activities and resources for all types of learners:

• Text – choose with CLEP exam in mind
• Class lecture, discussion, recall games
• Video series
• Online resources

Engage: Consider your students and what will INSPIRE them to not just read the text, but to engage with the material. Examples:  peer-challenge (game), respect for you and a willingness to want to perform their best, a desire to be acknowledged publicly for their efforts, a chance to take field trips or listen to guest speakers . . . the ideas are limitless.

Maintain a Schedule: Most students need outside accountability. Create a schedule and hold to it, otherwise students may not be prepared to test at the end of the class. I offered one day of grace. Come unprepared a second time and, for the good of the group and the student, I asked the student to wait for his parent outside of the class. When we met at my house, that meant the front step! I found this rule rarely needed to be enforced.

Be a Facilitator: Consider your role as a facilitator – no expertise required. Choose excellent resources and let the material be the expert. As facilitator, your primary goals are to:

1. Spark / Motivate Spark students to WANT to learn the material; make it relevant and even fun. Mix it up and include one of these each time you meet.

• Lectures and presentations. This helps the course move off of just a textbook to being relevant and engages audio learners.
• Interactive group activities (review games)
• Field trips (World Religions and Environmental Science are easy courses to do this with)
• Experiments/projects – something they ‘do’
• Videos
• Guest speakers – bring in parents with experience or members in the community. They really do enjoy helping respectful and appreciative teens.

2. Highlight Need to Know  Give students insight into areas they should focus their study on. Two good resources for you to pull this information from is the companion discussion board (User forum) available to Instantcert.com subscribers, and the REA CLEP guides. It is helpful to share with students ways to categorize these need-to-know elements. For example: major events, major people, major concepts.

3. Build Study Skills  Students in grades 7-12 are still developing their study skills. Take 15 minutes during each meeting to introduce, assign, and review different study skills. It is best if students play to their strength. Each should utilize techniques based on their Learning Style so start with this quiz.

4. Include Methods for Reinforcement and Recall  Build into your lessons ways for student to reinforce their knowledge of the material. For a Clepping student, input is not enough. Students need to understand the material well enough to recall it and that is best done by interacting with the material after reading the text. This step is key to having a high student pass rate. 

Reinforcement Techniques

• Mandatory note-taking – Taking notes is a vital skill in acquiring and retaining knowledge. We can’t write as fast as people speak, so our brains must process the information and condense it to take notes. This is a great college-readiness. Look up the different styles of note-taking and suggest students try them out to see what is the best fit with their learning style.
• Graded assignments from the text (objective measurable accountability)
• Projects
  
• Create and review material by diagramming and creating mind maps.
• Flashcards – Use index cards, type print cut, OR use one of the many online sites like: Quizlet or the Flashcard Exchange. The process of writing the information and forming it into notes and study cards is an excellent tool to move learning from short-term to long-term memory.
• Online companion book website – many book publishers have interactive websites that include videos, multiple choice quizzes, etc. This works best for students who are visual learners.

Recall Techniques: Quantifiable (scored/graded) activities so students can objectively assess their level of understanding

Students often overestimate their level of knowledge. This can lead to a false sense of security and ultimately a disappointing test score. FREQUENT OBJECTIVE TESTING is IMPORTANT because it forces students (and parents) to determine if their current study techniques are serving them well. These scores can also help parents push their student if necessary. As the facilitator, this is your best tool to help students grow! Test early (starting in Week 3) an often. Positive reinforcement (passing score, your verbal praise, being on the winning team) is a motivator for some students, others are motivated by negative reinforcement (low score, parent correction, being on the losing team). Read more about Motivation.

• Weekly graded quizzes (correct in class and discuss answers)
• In-class Games: jeopardy, password, candy land (create your own game with questions from flashcards or course material): Proof is in the puddin’! The real exam is timed, so games help students identify if they can recall answers “on the spot”. Start by having students work in teams (the weaker player is supported) before moving to playing as individuals.
• Quality Practice Tests – assign portions of various practice exams. Sources

5. Final Review 2-3 weeks prior to the official exam, assign full-length practice tests to students’ schedules. This provides students one more chance to identify what they don’t know so they can fill in the gaps. Students can score their own tests. I suggest having them send YOU their scores. This holds them accountable accountable and gives you a chance to coach the parent as to the student’s readiness.

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Copyright©2020 Cheri Frame – All Rights Reserved.

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Category: Blog, Teaching/CLEP-Prep