I also liked this point! I’ve never really thought about introspection in this way, but it struck me as such a Fundamental Truth. Because when we are working on something we care passionately about, we want it to be as good as possible. We (should) want feedback to make it better, even potentially at the risk of losing some “credit” for doing it entirely ourselves, or appearing non-omniscient.
I also think that in order to feel this way, we must be able to ask for help and be humble. Because in asking for/receiving feedback we are acknowledging that other people may be “more right” than us.

You had a lot of interesting points about the importance of critical thinking being important to all fields. I especially liked your point about “inquisitive” and “engaged” minds, and as you (Edelstein) conclude: problem-based learning is important for developing those minds. However, there are a lot of (intro) courses that mostly require students to learn how to develop the basics- which involves a lot of finding the one correct answer.
Though some problem-based learning assignments can be brought into these classes, I’m not sure how to get out this format, nor that we need to. We should look at the complete education and not just on a course level. Because STEM students should be taking those liberal arts courses that bring out critical thinking skills, that hopefully can be used in STEM courses/fields.

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I agree with the original point that we should feel empathy- and correct ourselves when we find that we are not. However, I had a similar reaction as Jake to the idea that we need to be empathetic all the time… We cannot do it at all times without compromising our own mental health. Also, sometimes it’s not necessarily helpful if a person is too empathetic. e.g. I’d rather have an objective doctor telling me about treatment options than one that’s overly sympathizing.
I think we need to aspire to knowing when we should allow ourselves to be empathetic and/or how to act empatheticly when we cannot feel it.

I agree that there is a risk that the data may be distorted by certain powers/actors. We’re seeing that right now in the US with the increase of fake news created by organizations/states intended to influence people.
I’m also unsure about how much OAR would influence content. If there is a threshold for contribution to a book (e.g. you need to be an ‘expert’ in the field), I’m not sure if content would be impacted that much. (Or conversely, some sections may be sources of debate for rival academics?)

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I think sometimes we do forget that others may interpret our efforts to make a course better through trying new techniques may not be well received. I think your comment about “some parents would not be thrilled to learn that their child “was the guinea pig” in Fall 2018 Intro to Biology” is equally applicable to some students. When people have certain expectations of how they will experience something, it can be very uncomfortable for them to have “everything” changed. (Who Moved My Cheese gives a simple look at this discomfort.) We also can see that discomfort in new teaching techniques in the push back to ‘new math.’ I had no idea what this new math was, but I heard about how ridiculous it was for years before I finally found out that it’s just an awesome, innovated wa of teaching math without memorization… But we as teachers need to be aware that we sometimes may need to engage in some PR before/as we’re trying new things.

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I also sometimes need to ‘stop thinking about a solution’ in order to get the solution. One of my favorite techniques is to go do something else unrelated that is not mentally taxing. (Walking/running/washing dishes)

But usually, I experience very little of my day without some outside ‘entertainment.’ I’m listening to an audiobook or reading something or surfing the internet. or have the TV on in the background. When I do ‘nothing,’ it’s almost always with intent. It’s almost not possible for me to have accidental ‘nothing’ time and simply experience the world in the moment/with mindfulness. It’s a bit scary to think about how differently we’re changing our brains to experience the world than generations before.

Your post was interesting- it’s always nice to get different perspectives on this topic. I wonder if the differences are more distinct with individual- vs community-focused societies. In most of the United States, our culture is self-focused (the individual is more important than the community). With that attitude (I think), comes some feelings of entitlement to question to world around us- even if we don’t fully engage with critical pedagogy.

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I was amused by “And it is difficult because it is not easy to take criticism from students.” because I think it’s difficult for most people to take criticism. But your point is very valid, because when we see criticism as questioning our authority or status as the expert, especially when we do not think that the people that are making the criticism is “allowed” to do so, the surprise/embarrassment car cause people to be even more defensive. It’s very important for us to remind ourselves, when this inevitably happens, that we should facilitate learning and education and not act defensively.

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I liked your comments about the role of a teacher: “I believe that the role of the teacher is to facilitate and enable the conversation to take place among peers, establishing norms for dialogue, and re-examining assumptions through prompts.”
This sentence is a great way to conceptualize how a teacher must both teach (by setting standards and guide the classroom) and yet avoid the pitfalls of banking education (by allowing students to engage in conversations and peer-to-peer dialogue).

You make great points about how not all diversity is obvious (and your second image is on point). Institutionally, we need to educate educators about how to handle diversity and (this seems impossible) be empathetic. Because while I may not have empathy for a student for partying too much and sleeping in my class, I should have empathy for a student with chronic pain.