Jerry Uelsman . . . photographer, art professor, and person I think you should let change your belief about quality and student engagement.
He ran an experiment with his art students at the University of Florida. Half of the class he said he was going to grade on quality. Their grade would be based on their one best photo from the semester. The other half of the class he said he was going to grade on quantity. Their grade would be based on the sheer total number of photos they took during the semester. Seems easy, right?
And what an easy grade . . . one photo, and make it good!?
What an easy grade . . . just take thousands of photos without worrying about quality?!
So which group took better photos?
Maybe you’re like me that at first, I suspected it was the learners who focused on quality that submitted better student work. But we’d be wrong.
The quantity students almost unanimously created better photos for the semester. Why?
They were taking so many photos! They’re in art school to get better, so most of them aren’t there to waste their time taking 1,000 photos of their trash can. But with the mental restriction of quality and the pressure of taking a good photo removed, they improved their student work. More student involvement! They iterated. They risked. They experimented. They discovered. All of that led to better photos.
What did the quality group do? They theorized. Made notes. Made plans. Guessed. Worried. It’s all in their heads. Their talk often centered around what not to do or try because they only had one shot to get it good. And they weren’t practicing photography. They were practicing talking about photography.
What’s the lesson for we teachers about our learners . . . and ourselves, if we’re really honest . . . quantity is at least as valuable as quality. Do more. Do more often. Do more quickly. Do more slowly. Do more risks. Try more things. Try it all. And often. Make sure this work is meaningful and not busywork. This always improves your bottom line of quality better than focusing on quality.
Writing. Reading. Grammar. Speaking. Science labs. Drawing. Painting.
Whatever the skill, let’s remove the worry of being great, and improve the fun of doing often, different, risky. Our students will have more fun. We teachers will have more fun.
✏️ The quality will come.
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