In his Phys-L post of 5 Feb 2003 10:35:33-0500 titled "Re: Physics
and the Paideia Process," Herb Gottlieb made some comments on the
Paideia Method <http://www.paideia.org/> (and on non-traditional
teaching methods generally) which, in my view, are either IRRELEVANT
or AMBIGUOUS.
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A. IRRELEVANT: "If you check the histories of every new claimed
panacia that will revolutionize education you will find that they all
go through a similar process of spreading success like wild fire
followed by an even more rapid collapse a few years later."
As far as I know, neither the Paideia Method nor any of the recent
non-traditional methods of physics teaching [for reviews see Redish
(2003) and Hake (1998a,b; 2002a,b)] ever:
1. claimed to be a panacia that will revolutionize education,
2. caught on like wildfire, or
3. collapsed a few years thereafter.
What "histories" is Herb thinking of?
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B. AMBIGUOUS: "The only technique that most of the professional
"educators" . . . (PE's). . . agree on is that "The Lecture Method"
of teaching does not work."
If by "working" one means showing evidence of substantial enhancement
of average students' conceptual understanding, and if "The Lecture
Method" means the:
(a) passive-student lecture, then Herb is CORRECT, most PE's agree
that it DOES NOT work.
(b) interactive-engagement lecture (e.g., Mazur 1997, Crouch & Mazur
2001, Sokoloff & Thornton 1997) then Herb is INCORRECT, most PE's
agree that it DOES work.
Does Herb mean "a", "b", or some other?
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C. AMBIGUOUS: "'The Lecture Method' continues because it is very
efficient from an economic standpoint."
If "economic efficiency" is defined as the per dollar amount of:
(a) "student-seat-time" then Herb is CORRECT, the "The Lecture
Method" is very efficient. Large capacity detention halls are even
more efficient.
(b) "enhancement of average students' conceptual understanding" then
Herb is INCORRECT, the "The Lecture Method" is NOT very efficient.
Does Herb mean "a", "b", or some other?
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D. AMBIGUOUS: "In the hands of professionals who know how to use 'The
Lecture Method,' the students learn."
If "students" means "average students" and if learning is defined as:
(a) "rote memorization," then Herb is CORRECT, even for the case of
teaching by non-professionals, students DO learn.
(b) "attainment of substantial conceptual understanding," then Herb
is INCORRECT. For the teaching of both professionals and
non-professionals, students DO NOT learn.
Hake, R.R. 1998a. "Interactive-engagement vs traditional methods: A
six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory
physics courses," Am. J. Phys. 66, 64-74 (1998); online as ref. 24
at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>.
Hake, R.R. 1998b. "Interactive-engagement methods in introductory
mechanics courses," online as ref. 25 at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>. A crucial companion paper to
Hake (1998a): average pre/post test scores, standard deviations,
instructional methods, materials used, institutions, and instructors
for each of the survey courses of Hake (1998a) are tabulated and
referenced. In addition the paper includes: (a) case histories for
the seven IE courses of Hake (1998a) whose effectiveness as gauged by
pre-to-post test gains was close to those of T courses, (b) advice
for implementing IE methods, and (c) suggestions for further research.
Hake, R.R. 2002a. "Lessons from the physics education reform effort."
Conservation Ecology 5(2): 28; online at
<http://www.consecol.org/vol5/iss2/art28>. "Conservation Ecology," is
a FREE "peer-reviewed journal of integrative science and fundamental
policy research" with about 11,000 subscribers in about 108 countries.
Hake, R.R. 2002b. "Assessment of Physics Teaching Methods,"
Proceedings of the UNESCO-ASPEN Workshop on Active Learning in
Physics, Univ. of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2-4 Dec. 2002; also online
as ref. 29 at <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/>.
Mazur, E. 1997. "Peer instruction: a user's manual," Prentice Hall;
online at <http://galileo.harvard.edu/>.
Redish, E.F. 2003. "Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite." Wiley.
Sokoloff D.R. & R.K. Thornton. 1997. "Using Interactive Lecture
Demonstrations to Create An Active Learning Environment," in "The
Changing Role of Physics Departments in Modern Universities"
Proceedings of ICUPE,
E.F. Redish and J.S. Rigden, eds. AIP; online at
<http://www.psrc-online.org/classrooms/papers/sokoloff.html>.