I am glad that we can all find educators like the fantastic Mr.S. I would think all of us in this class strive to be a teacher like this. I really like the tidbits you share here about your adviser and I think extending a little bit of our humanity/ a glimpse into your softer side really helps to let your students connect with you. Thanks for sharing.

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Maha,

I absolutely agree with you. As an engineering student this class opened my eyes up to a lot of concepts that I would consider foreign/ did not typically think about. I am really glad that as a class we got to collaborate on topics like diversity, inclusion, learner-centered, technology. I think it will all help us bring some modern thinking to an age old profession.

You bring up some really good points. The first one I want to address is about student proposing their own grades. I know of a professor here at Tech that did this, because he did not want to calculate their grades (my assumption). I also think he was trying to get some input from the student for justification. However I honestly think it was more for the former. This makes me sad, like they were just exploiting this good idea. I think it has some really good potential to keep students accountable.

The second point I want to bring up is some teachers just don’t want to teach. In a lot of cases It is just a requirement for the job title. I completely agree with your points here. Sometimes I think it would be beneficial if they were completely different entities. Strictly teaching and strictly research.

I really enjoyed reading this blog post, I think you made some really interesting points. As far as technology in the classrooms I think as a CS major you have a unique perspective. I would think its very technology progressive considering you most likely use computers for everything. I think there is a place and time for laptops in the classroom, but I don’t think lectures are the place for them . I think in general people who take written notes tend to remember the information better than those who type them out. That being said there are some situations where laptops are indispensable. However phones are never needed when it comes to the learning process.

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I love this “Resorting to a lecture because I need to ‘cover material’ is just an admission that I didn’t design my course well”. I also think the idea of putting the lecture online regardless is a really good idea. I think teaches are hesitant to do this because not only does it make them obsolete but sometimes it is nice to have a face to face relationship. Finally I know a lot of professors that make a big deal out of sharing their lecture materials.

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