Thanks for the post and the lively discussion! I too believe that some component of “memorization” is important for at least laying the foundations in a lot of disciplines. However, I guess “memorizing” things can mean different things as well. I think your example of memorizing the bones of the body is a great one. Like you said, there really is no other way to do it. However, to me, when I was “memorizing” veterinary anatomy, it all had a context. Yes I had to memorize where the humerus, ulna, radius, tibia, etc. were but also, I used my past clinical experiences to help me remember. So though the courses haven’t always given me a context in which to learn the material, maybe one way to avoid this whole memorization think is to try and use previous knowledge and experience to derive your own context?

Thanks for this post! This is a lovely reminder that we are all role models and should act accordingly. If we expect the best from our students then we have to show them our best by being honest, willing to learn and admit when we are wrong. Thanks for the reminder.

LikeLike

Thanks for the post. I appreciate the analogy as we have received a lot of information over the semester. And it does sort of seem a little overwhelming at first to try and figure out where to start. Just like some of the readings we have read throughout the semester, you remind us that the best place to start is within yourself. Deciding what your goals and ideals are. Being true to your own standards is so important. Once you begin there, you can start to use all the tools we have been given to mold or craft your teaching style to achieve the ultimate goal of creating active, engaged learners.

Great post. This is certainly a controversial topic as many people have differing viewpoints. I think the basic math example is a great one and I see it ALL the time in customer service situations where cashiers need to give change. The setting is this-you pull up to the drive through for your Big Mac and your total is $11.26. You give the cashier $20.00 and as they ring you up, you think to yourself “I really don’t want all those dumb pennies hanging around” and so you give that person an additional penny (so your change in coins will be 3 quarters as opposed to some quarters, some dimes, and some pennies). In my experience, the typical reaction is a complete inability to figure out what kind of change to give me. (Granted this exact scenario was just made up in my head, but, the situation happens SO frequently, it is scary!) I am certainly not trying to question anyone’s intelligence but as the other posters have pointed out, I feel like we rely much too heavily on technology to do things for us.

One more silly example and then I will stop. My son watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (kids show). In Mickey’s clubhouse, there are “handy helpers” which are literally hands on springs that pop out and help do chores, etc. around the clubhouse. In one episode, the machinery that works all the handy helpers broke. Mickey and his friends spent the whole show trying to figure out how they were going to physically get out of the clubhouse as there were no handy helpers to open the door for them. Clearly, this is not real life but I do think it does accurately represent the ridiculous reliance we have developed on technology.

Thank you for the post. Teaching evaluations are always tough because there are SO many other things that go into a student’s evaluation of you (as Willie mentioned) that may or may not reflect your teaching at all. I also have maybe a different viewpoint from which to take the student critique of not providing enough real world examples. I wonder if you are providing plenty of real-life examples, but maybe they are not identifying them as relevant and thus brushing them off or “not hearing them”? I think maybe one good way to try and address this is Willie’s suggestion to ask them to provide some examples. I do, however, agree that evaluations are often not at all related to the reality of the teaching and your example is a perfect reflection of this.

Great post! I am completely intrigued by the interactive sculpture reference and I feel like it supports a lot of what we have been talking about over the past few weeks. I am not in the arts myself but I imagine I might be more actively engaged in learning more about an art form in which I can take part. It’s the whole idea of passively interacting with information (i.e. traditional teaching and, it sounds like, many traditional art forms) vs being actively engaged and taking some ownership of information (i.e contemporary pedagogy and the interactive sculpture technique). That being said, I do have problems with disrespect and using phones at a performance where there is no interactive portion is just disrespectful.

Great post. I actually think this was an interesting exercise you took upon yourself to do. Ideally I am sure we were all trying to incorporate concepts of contemporary pedagogy into our syllabi but I think it was really great of you to actually take out some key phrases that were important to you (as far as pedagogical principles go) and show yourself that indeed you were satisfying these concepts. I think it was a nice exercise in holding yourself accountable. Nice job!

Great post! I can definitely empathize with your graduate seminar experience as well. I think the “sweet spot” of good learning is not 100% professor driven but also not 100% student driven. I really think there is a fine balance that has to happen for the students to get as much as they can. And you stated it perfectly . . . a structured discussion seems to be close to the answer. It’s like teaching someone to swim. If you throw them in with no guidance (i.e. completely student led discussion with no guidance), they will probably flail and sink. If you let them ride on your back while you swim (i.e. a professor lecturing at students with no discussion), that’s probably none too helpful either. But if you show them the strokes and give a little support (i.e. provide some initial questions, discussion points, etc.), they will eventually take over on their own.

Thank you for this post. It definitely brings up a fundamental problem in the traditional teaching system, as this will lead to an acceptance of one person’s (or group of people’s) viewpoint as fact. I also agree that a contemporary method of teaching is valuable in this case as it can use the knowledge originally taken as fact and build upon it. What I mean to say is that I feel strongly that a basic fundamental “fact database” is important in order for students to have basic knowledge on which to critically think and question. However, rather than just reading the textbook and saying this is how it happened, we can use make sure to point out the fact that this is just one possibility and one viewpoint of the events. We can then acknowledge other possibilities, seek out other resources, etc.

Thank you for your post. You have made your point in a very diplomatic, pointed manner and I really appreciate that. Like Dr. Nelson and Carrie, I am white and I am female but the majority of who I am is based on my life’s cumulative experiences . . . most of which have not been related to my race or gender. So I would agree that we definitely need to try and make all students feel safe in the classroom by recognizing all our differences.

LikeLike