The Merit of METICs

"OK, students! We’re going to have our METIC now. I want you all to think of what can improve the class, what is going well and any personal suggestions for me as a teacher. I’ll leave the classroom and I’ll be back in about five minutes, so we can discuss what you all have thought!" We talk for the very last five minutes of class as students are packing their bags and getting ready to leave for their next class. While this is a common procedure for the midterm evaluations at Phillips Exeter Academy, called METICS, I believe that there are two issues with this system: too little time is spent on the METICS, which prevents us from thoroughly discussing solutions to any problems with the class, and the teachers often stick with their original methods, regardless of the effectiveness of those methods.

The students are great at bringing up common issues and problems within the class or its curriculum, but we are not given the time to think of a suitable solution. For example, one of my classes had a problem with too much material and weight on each of the tests as well as not spending enough time on each topic. Of course, the class was effective in bringing these issues up, but with the little time given, we could not think of any reasonable ways to fix the issues. A student asked for more quizzes or assessments that could balance out our grades. Another asked to spend more time on each topic. However, with so many smaller ideas and limited time to address each of these solutions, none of our suggestions were brought into effect. Our class curriculum and teacher’s style of lecturing remained pretty much the same. Instead of changing the class structure, excited about our willingness to do more homework, our teacher only burdened the students with more homework each night that accumulated to larger tests once again.

It is also difficult for teachers to change the way they teach. Some teachers are fairly stubborn about their teaching style, and state this to their classes in the beginning. Others listen to what the students have said during the METIC, but simply disregard it the next time the class meets. I understand that it requires a lot of work to alter a teaching method that has worked for years. I also recognize the fact that some teachers are afraid that the adjustments may jeopardize the learning experience. However, small changes can be brought to the table, and I really see no harm in simply having more quizzes here and there to potentially achieve a more balanced, fairer grading system. It only requires the teacher’s efforts and his or her willingness to experiment with new methods.

Of course, we all know that Phillips Exeter Academy has top-notch faculty members and teachers that are always available for the students. But I believe that every teacher has a little room for improvement, and no one knows it better than the students. If they could simply take into consideration our suggestions given during the METICs and try to apply them to their classes, the students will be able to have a better learning experience. This is because they know that their teacher has at least tried to address the issues that have been discussed, instead of deliberately ignoring suggestions or simply rejecting the changes that are proposed. Even if the methods fail, the students will be the first ones to notice the problems again, and if necessary, suggest a solution. As the student body becomes more and more diverse, the teachers should modify their teaching methods, so that they can make the best out of their knowledge, and we, the students, can make the best out of the great learning opportunities that are provided here at Exeter with the intelligent and willing faculty members.