Blended classrooms, MOOCs, multi-media infotainment- are the new ways really better?
Should lectures really go the way of the dodo?
image from Wikipedia!
Not so fast……
Yes, it is true that small group activities, discussion sessions and other student-centered teaching techniques are quite effective at enhancing learning and retention of material, even complex biological and neuroscience concepts. I certainly use a variety of non-lecture techniques in my courses and I think I’m a better teacher as a result. By “better” I mean that my students seem to master the course material and my course objectives and they also seem quite satisfied.
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Dr. Shiva Talks
Four ideas for jump-starting group discussion
The other day I was racking my brain trying to come up with a fresh idea for small group discussion of a primary research article. I’ve tried several different approaches:
1. Jigsaw discussions: This is where you break the class into groups (let’s say four groups of four or five groups of five) and have each group discuss one aspect of the readings or topic for the day.
Seas, Trees, and Sawdust: The Artful Dodger with Peter Stillman
Today’s post comes from Deborah Steinberg, class of 2014 and Art Center Student Docent.
On February 22, Professor Peter Stillman kicked off our Artful Dodger series this spring with a discussion of two photographs that expanded upon the course he taught last semester around the Sawdust Mountain exhibition at the Art Center.
The Pain and Pleasure of Good Learning
In high school, my favorite class was AP Calculus. During class, our teacher peppered his lectures with humorous examples. One day he asked us, “If a boy and a girl are interested in each other and each moves towards the other by dividing the distance in half each time, will they ever touch?” At night and on weekends, I sat in front of the most impossible problem sets, the blank page of lined loose-leaf sitting there under the glow of my desk lamp, taunting me, egging on my growing confusion and frustration.