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Interesting that JC points to Sadler here. I heard him talk just prior to
his report coming out, and as I recall, his survey did not necessarily
point
to much that the PER movement could 'crow' about. ;-)
The 'no text book' correlation with performance could have a number of
interpretations, but one that would seem to make sense is that an
instructor
who doesn't use a text is likely to be one who is very knowledgeable and
very committed to his/her instruction. I would say that in such cases it
is
the instructor who is 'highly engaged' in the course. As almost anyone
who
has taught for a while knows, covering the entire book at almost any level
of course, requires one to move way too fast through the material--so not
finishing a text is a good sign that the instructor has pared down the
coverage to be manageable (in spite of external 'standards'.) Of course
one can have different interpretations--the extreme dislike that students
seem to have towards having to actually read their textbooks (lucky if I
can
get them to buy them in my Gen-Ed class) can then produce an attitudinal
barrier towards learning---etc. ;-)