RE: Not about business models

["Donald E. Simanek" <dsimanek@eagle.lhup.edu>]

On Wed, 11 Dec 1996, JACK L. URETSKY (C) 1996; HEP DIV., ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB, ARGONNE, IL 60439 wrote:

> 	One of the best courses I ever took, looking back from a vantage
> point of 40+ years time lapse, was a modern algebra course from a guy
> named Whitehead (no, not THAT Whitehead!).  At the beginning of the
> hour he would start writing on the blackboard and lecturing to the
> blackboard (inaudibly).  He would stop at the end of the hour.
> 	We students would just sit and copy his notes.
> 	Why was it one of the best courses?  Because every night I
> had to sit down with the notes and struggle until I understood what the guy
> was saying (or, rather, writing).
> 	My point?  Learning is a student responsibility.  Or, to quote
> Feynman, "What I cannot create I do not understand."  The student's
> responsibility is to learn to create, and there is very little that the
> teacher can do to facilitate that learning.
> 			Regards,
> 					Jack

Bravo! You've said what needs to be said in this thread. And you've
reminded me of two of the best profs I ever had (whom I'd better not
name). One, I know, is still alive.

One taught classical mechanics, junior-level. He told us early on that
he'd make every effort to include at least one error in each lecture, and
it was our responsibility to find it. It wouldn't be something so obvious
we'd blurt it out immediately and disrupt the flow of class. That
experience taught me the importance and value of reviewing my notes and
rewriting and embellishing them as soon after lecture as possible. It
served me well in many other courses.

The other taught a graduate course in classical electromagnetic theory. 
His lectures were always polished gems, delivered without notes. They were
structured, organized, insightful, clear, detailed and there was never a
wasted word. He'd respond to questions from the class, but always
characterized the question before answering: good, interesting,
insightful, stupid, uninformed, etc. Whatever the characterization, he'd
always answer it in as complete and polished a manner as his regular
lecture. He'd not hesitate to berate, demean, and even insult students in
class for being imperceptive, or inattentive, or even if they just weren't
keeping up. This gave us great incentive to put our minds into higher
gear, but it also helped us to develop thicker skins, and faster mental
reflexes, something very important in the real world. We were so in awe of
his command of the subject, that some of us conspired with the physics
librarian to let us see the latest journals in the subject before he got
to see them, so we could frame questions on the leading edge of current
research. We had already established that he didn't subscribe to them, but
always read them in the library. Even these questions didn't slow him up,
he'd respond as clearly and confidently as his regular lectures. He'd
generally stop and quietly think for a bit before answering, never more
than 15 seconds (we timed it). During that short time, it was clear that
he thought out and solved the problem, and organized his answer, before
uttering a word. And his answers were always better than those we'd found
in the journals. Need I add that we learned a heck of a lot just reading
those journals so that we could trip him up? We never succeeded. 

If he had been a kindly pussycat, I doubt we'd have learned as much.

I sometimes think that one reason modern education so often fails is
because we have tried too hard to transfer the burden of education from
the student to the teacher. That is, we've tried too hard to make it
easier for the students, and to take the pain out of it. Learning is a
struggle. It is not without pain, and contrary to what someone here said
recently, I don't think that it is at all 'natural' for most people, not
even for those who show great accomplishments in academic subjects. 

Years after I was in public school, one of my elementary school math
teachers told me that when she had urged me to try harder to learn
something, I responded "It hurts to think." It does, especially if you are
trying to learn something difficult, or somthing you have no interest in.
But some things must be learned anyway. 

	-- Donald

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
Dr. Donald E. Simanek                            Office: 717-893-2079
Prof. of Physics                    Internet: dsimanek@eagle.lhup.edu
Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA. 17745          CIS: 73147,2166 
Home page: http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek            FAX: 717-893-2047
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++