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At 10:12 AM 11/16/2004, you wrote:
A colleague of mine is a former industrial physicist. He told me of =
a study in which a firm was trying to influence employee's productivi=
ty. For example, they found that playing music improved productivit=
y. Turning off the music a month later also improved productivity. =
They tried changing the color of the walls, and I don't know what els=
e. The final analysis: It was change itself that improved productivit=
y, not the specific nature of the changes. IMHO, teaching fads are s=
ort of like that. Teachers get bored, especially if they're cycling =
through the same material year after year. Students get bored, too. =
Change perks up everybody. =20
As for "miracle" cures in education, teaching syles are a personal as=
shoes. A good teacher adopts or adapts various methodologies accordi=
ng to what fits him or her, and tries new things from time to time to=
keep his or her teaching fresh. ANY technique might work well for on=
e instructor and not another. This is often forgotten by the purveyo=
rs of the "miracle" cures.
Vickie Frohne
Vickie's anecdote might well have been describing the celebrated
Hawthorne effect, where a group of workers was set up with improved
illumination, with the expected results.
The process was repeated at increasing light levels in a search for an
optimal lighting level, until at length the illumination was greater than
the operating room environment now provides - and an experimenter
noting the dazzling light level, set the lighting back to levels lower than
ever before, with the same favorable result.
The observer effect is a powerful influence.
Brian Whatcott Altus OK Eureka!