Re: Socratic Method

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>]

Hi all-
        Please note that when I adopted revised versions of Dick Hake's
delightful labs for use in a community college I carefully called them
"Dialogue Labs" and not "Socratic Dialogue Labs".  This was because, some
years before, I had been exposed to three years of purported "Socratic"
teaching in a prominent law school and came away with the feeling that I
had been exposed to one of the world's best-paid collection of con
artists.
        In the classic Socratic Dialogue, an example is reprinted in a
Swarz editorial in TPT some years back, you purport to lead a student to
discover, through adroit questioning, information already known to the
student.  The swindle as recounted by Plato, is to ask questions that put
the desired words into the student's mouth so so all the student ends up
doing is assenting to leading questions.
        That is not what the dialogue labs are all about.  What they are
about, as I see it, is asking students questions that require them to
think, observe, discuss, analyze and verbalize conclusions.
        One of my favorites is a question about why water doesn't fall out
of a filled bucket that is being rotated in a vertical circle at the end
of a rope.  When the students ask for help I stand in front of them,
probably talking about free-body diagrams, "absent mindedly" placing a
coin in the palm of my hand and slapping the coin down on a desk top.  By
this time the students are accustomed to my devious tactics, and pretty
soon one of them will grasp the hint and start explaining it to the
others.  That is the real pay-off, because students listen to each other.
        But Socratic?  Why do you think they force fed him the hemlock?
                                                Regards,
                                                        Jack


On Wed, 13 Nov 2002, Pat Viele wrote:

>     AU: Julian,-Glenn-M.
>     TI: Socratic Dialogue--With How Many?
>     PY: 1995
>     SO: Physics-Teacher; v33 n6 p338-39 Sep 1995
>     AB: Describes methods for engaging a large number of students
> simultaneously in Socratic dialogue. (JRH)
>
>
>     3 AN: EJ509103
>     AU: Morse,-Robert-A.
>     TI: The Classic Method of Mrs. Socrates.
>     PY: 1994
>     SO: Physics-Teacher; v32 n5 p276-77 May 1994
>     AB: Questions whether the Socratic method is an effective teaching
> method. Presents a more effective questioning strategy
>     using a dialog as an example. (MVL)
> TI: Socratic Pedagogy in the Introductory Physics Laboratory.
>     PY: 1992
>     SO: Physics-Teacher; v30 n9 p546-52 Dec 1992
>     AB: Describes Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) laboratory methods and
> procedures developed to increase conceptual
>     understanding in introductory physics laboratories. Gives an example of
> a typical beginning SDI lab manual section and a
>     representative Socratic dialogue. Describes several examples of
> laboratory experiments developed for the SDI method. (
>
>
> At 02:59 PM 11/13/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I keep hearing (and experiencing) that lecture-based courses are not the most
> > effective at enhancing student learning.  I am intrigued by the Socratic
> > Method, but is there a good introduction of the use of this (and perhaps
> > other) methods for teaching a physics course?  I'm familiar with the basic
> > idea, but I would like to know some of the nuts-and-bolts of the methodology.
> > How do you deal with students who don't follow the reading?  What's to keep
> > the smartest or loudest students from dominating the class?  What do you do
> > with unmotivated students?  How is assessment done?
> >
> > I can think of a number of questions, and was wondering if there are any good
> > resources out there for instructors on these alternate teaching methods.
> >
> > Any thoughts or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> >
> >                 thanks,
> >
> >                     Brian Blais
> >                     Science and Technology
> >                     Bryant College
> >
> >
> > --
> > -----------------
> >
> >             bblais@bryant.edu
> >             web.bryant.edu/~bblais
> >
> > This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or
> > the AAPT.
>
> Patricia T. Viele, Physics & Astronomy Librarian
> Edna McConnell Clark Physical Sciences Library
> Clark Hall
> Cornell University
> Ithaca, NY 14853-2501
> Voice:  607-255-4016
> FAX:    607-255-5288
> email:  ptv1@cornell.edu
>
> This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.

--
        "What did Barrow's lectures contain?  Bourbaki writes with some
scorn that in his book in a hundred pages of the text there are about 180
drawings.  (Concerning Bourbaki's books it can be said that in a thousand
pages there is not one drawing, and it is not at all clear which is
worse.)"
                                        V. I. Arnol'd in
                                Huygens & Barrow, Newton & Hooke

This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.