I’m not sure what (or if) students think about their own learning process. From my observations of college students over the past twenty years or so, they seem so focused on the grades they will receive or the credentials they need to acquire for their “next step” after college, that I’m not sure they stop too often to think about their own learning process. Sure, the students are also interested in learning something new, but that seems to take a mental back seat to the grade as the semester progresses.
Author Archives: administrator
Assignment-In-Lieu of Class
Last week, we had another snowstorm. It is February, after all, in New York. I was unable to get out of my neighborhood to get to my 9 am class.
Speed-dating to review course material and build community
This semester, I came up with a cool way to have my class get to know each other a little bit on the first day.
My course is an intermediate-level neuroscience course that builds on knowledge they should have gained in more introductory-level work. I wanted to highlight particular concepts that they should have mastered and to gauge how well that knowledge was retained by them.
Sometimes Learning is a Team Sport
When I used to think about students working on my course material outside of class, I imagined them sitting at a desk in the library, highlighter in hand, poring intensely at the written material I had assigned. Or, maybe they were sitting quietly typing up the paper that I had assigned, a large stack of hand-written notes stacked beside them. Basically, they were working alone.
Changing Minds is not like changing clothes
image from: http://www.sodahead.com, n2growth.