I think students would benefit more from participating in the dance rather than just viewing it. Of course if they are embarrassed, we can find something similar such as beads or blocks as you mentioned. The idea is to make the student more active and not just a receiver accepting knowledge. However, I still prefer dancing for those who are not embarrassed, since this may impose some sense of joy within the class.

Yes you are right. But I think viewing the video is also one type of passive learning. I want the students to be immersed in the process of knowledge generation and to be active.

Haha … Do you think really we as instructors can do so?

Thanks for your post! I really liked your comparison of teaching and presenting. When I taught, I also found myself talking at my students for the entire class. And there were a lot of blank faces staring back at me. One thing that I would do was just try different things, different activities, different ways to engage students. For example, one lecture I gave was on decision matrices. So I had students make paper airplanes and then we used a decision matrix to determine the “winning” paper airplane based on criteria that they specified at the beginning of class. It was really fun and way better than just talking about the concept. And while some things worked really well, other things did not work at all. But I learned a lot about what works for me in the process.

Thanks for sharing! I really like the point you made that we no longer have to train apprentices who just repeat what others do. Yet, this is how a lot of formal education settings are structured. In a field like engineering, students are told what to do and then have to repeat that information on tests. Then the engineering workplace is nothing like that education. We should be teaching students to think and to see other perspectives and to communicate and to solve problems. And I completely agree with you – paradigm shifts should be encouraged!

What a beautiful metaphor! Thank you for sharing this story.

Throughout this class, I too have been considering how to provide balance in the classroom; how to utilize the new technology and digital learning we have discussed in class with traditional textbooks and lecturing, for instance. I think that using all the resources at hand, both new age and old school, is great way to engage students of all learning styles. It only makes sense to use the best tool for the job when teaching a topic, whether that be a YouTube video or a table in the textbook. I also appreciate the very important point you made about teaching being a constant struggle–I think each class will be an ever evolving and unique journey. We must be mindful and recognize the needs of our students in that class, at that moment, and be willing to adjust our teaching as is necessary to garner the best understanding for all. Like you, I look forward to finding my “middle path” in the classroom. Thanks again!

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So many interesting ideas here! I especially like the reflection from Dec. 5 when the students take the initiative to help each other. This kind of active co-learning just makes the world a better place. And props for answering the question without giving away the answer!

Thanks for the great post the list! There are something similar between performance and teaching. One thing I like the most is that either for acting or teaching, we need to explore our authentic inner selves first. We need to be true to ourselves. But one big difference between acting and teaching, for me, is that when acting, we need to have the stage to ourselves. It is more of a process for the actors to exhibit something. But when teaching, we need to involve the students more. We are serving the students while they learn, not just exhibiting the knowledge to them.

Thanks for sharing your course re-design! It’s so interesting to read about how you provide scaffolding, sequenced assignments, and different learning modalities in a technical field like yours.

Your students will be lucky to work with you! I really appreciate the way you’ve thought through all of this, and am delighted that you realize that you have considerable teaching experience, even if it hasn’t come in the form of “being in charge” of a classroom. Keep the Papert perspective in mind and you can’t go wrong!

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