In this video, we will discuss how you can improve students' experience with the seminary learning assessment--before you administer it, during the assessment, and after it has been administered. The seminary learning assessment has improved students' seminary experience. Brother Chad Webb, an administrator in Seminary and Institutes of Religion, and various seminary students discuss how the assessment has blessed their lives. Someone might ask, "Do you really think that creating a learning assessment is going to bless our students to have a deepening of conversion?" My answer is yes. I feel like I was taking seminary more seriously--actually paying attention in class and learning the lessons. I've taken seminary for three years. The memorizing part I didn't really care to do because there was no point. But after this year and being tested, I took it more seriously and was able to memorize. Preparing for the test helped because while we were reviewing, I was able to think of more questions, ask why that was exactly the right answer, and realize why everything was right on the test. I was able to focus on it instead of just coming to seminary. It has a good spirit, but now I come here to learn and prepare myself to know the doctrine and know the gospel. One of the best ways you can prepare students to have a successful experience with the assessment is to consistently teach, emphasize, and review the major doctrines and principles of the course. Here are a few ideas of what you can do before administering the assessment. You're going to sit down before the test even happens and make sure that your students have been taught the things that are on the test. I think the key to giving the learning assessment is aptly preparing your students by being a consistent teacher. He made us want to know it for ourselves. He told us that we'd have this test, and during our lessons if there were key points he was supposed to teach, he would emphasize them. He would not necessarily say, "This is going to be on the test," but he would make it so that point was the most meaningful part of the lesson. I think the key is to be up-front and outspoken about it. My students knew it was coming. They knew it would be expected. They knew that I thought they could succeed. And they knew that I'd prepared them well. The learning assessment cannot be an end-of-the-semester thing. It must be a constant thing that you're preparing them for. And then when they get there, it really can turn into something of an accomplishment for them. Pause the video, and review the section of the handout that discusses the best practices to use before the learning assessment. Write down a couple things you can do throughout the course to prepare students to succeed on the learning assessments.

Administer the learning assessment in a manner that invites the Spirit. A few students explain how their teachers helped them during the assessment. What our seminary teacher did was give an aura of "We want you to know it" and not "You don't know it and that's bad." They said, "We just want to make sure that you know these things, and that's why we're taking the test." Sister Walton never let us think negatively about it. She was like, "Guys, we have this assessment. Let's do it." And that's just the way she is; she's fantastic. She had a very positive energy about it, and I think that made going into it a lot easier. Pause the video, and review the section of the handout that discusses the best practices to use during the learning assessment. Write down a couple ways in which you can improve how you introduce and administer the assessment.

After students take the assessment, review it with them in a way that deepens conversions, allows students to share and testify, and helps clarify any misunderstood doctrines. Watch how one teacher reviewed the assessment, and then listen as students and teachers discuss how reviewing the learning assessment changed the experience they had taking it. When I was asked by the central office to discuss the test with the students, they said, "We want to see you make it a teaching experience." It was a struggle for me. I thought, "How could I do that better?" But ultimately I just decided on two questions. Which questions did you find difficult or did you maybe guess on? We're going to chat about those after we correct the test. Which questions do you feel are the most important for teenagers to know and understand? Would you flip through the questions if you're done and have a couple numbers in mind? (Sister Walton) Let's talk about questions you might have had. Sarah, do you have another question? (Sarah) Can you explain number 19? (Sister Walton) Let's go to number 19. The answer for 19 was supposed to be B, correct? Just making sure I didn't get a different answer. (Boy) What does "stake in the homeland" mean? (Sister Walton) I know! (Sister Walton) Any questions that you felt are the most important for teenagers to know and understand? Noah, please. (Noah) I liked the essay. (Sister Walton) Cool. Let's go to the essay. Talk to me about the essay and things you thought were cool about it, Noah. (Noah) I just remember that in conference they were talking about how important it is for us to have a testimony of Joseph Smith, especially in these days. My mom would always check up on me and be like, "Noah, do you believe in Joseph Smith?" She'd ask me all these questions, so I think it was really cool that some of the test focused on that and that it helps us keep that testimony. It changed the outlook of the test. Rather than just going in and taking a test, it changed it into more of a discussion and more of a testimony builder. It's one of those tests that you want to talk about. You want to discuss it. I would say that without the discussion about the assessment, I could have cared less about the assessment. It wouldn't have mattered to me because otherwise it's just another test that you take. Discussing and applying it helps you go deeper instead of being like, "This is a test; this is what we are taking." It brings the Spirit in, and I think you learn by the Spirit. It was good last time, but I think that today was exceptional. I saw the learning assessment being used in the way that I think it should be used. I saw the assessment turn into a teaching tool. What I feel like I've learned is that discussion makes a difference. By discussing the assessment after having taken it, students walk away with a different feeling. The first time I did the first half of the assessment, they walked away and felt like they took a test. After the second time, I felt like the Spirit was in the classroom and you could feel it. The students' answers had such great depth to them, and I think they walked away with a different feeling. I think they walked away uplifted. Review the section of the handout that discusses the best practices to use after the learning assessment, and write down how you can use the "Fundamentals of Gospel Teaching and Learning" to provide opportunities for students to ask questions, share, and testify during the review. (end music)