Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a post titled
"Could 'Precision Teaching' and the Wider Education Community Learn
Something From One Another? "[Hake (2010d)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: In response to "Re: Confessions of a Converted Lecturer #2"
[Hake (2010b)] Joshua Garner (2010) of the behaviorist-oriented
"Precision Teaching" SClistserv list wrote: "By applying simple
behavioral psychology principles in a college physics class student
performance increased. . . . duh. . . . by the end of the video. . .
. [[Mazur 2010)]]. . . . I said to myself, 'Gee this guy is using
direct instruction and active student responding (in an around-about
way)."
But the wider education community generally regards Mazur's approach
as the constructivist-oriented "Interactive Engagement," loosely
speaking, the polar opposite of "direct instruction."
The insularity of education research was further demonstrated by
SClistserv's J.W. Eshleman (2010) who, responding to "Re: Confessions
of a Converted Lecturer #5" [Hake (2010c)], referenced three methods
to measure and enhance the degree of student learning in a "lecture,"
all developed *within* the Precision Teaching Community (PTC),
ignoring such methods developed *outside* the PTC - over 30 such are
discussed in the double-asterisked references to this post.
Considering the Garner and Eshleman posts, could the "Precision
Teaching" and wider education communities learn something from one
another?
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REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy <http://tinyurl.com/create.php>.]
Eshleman, J.W. 2010. "Re: Confessions of a Converted Lecturer #5,"
SClistserv post of 22 Mar 2010 14:16:47-0400. Online on the OPEN!
SClistserv archives at <http://tinyurl.com/ykj8f6m>. SClistserv is
short for "Precision Teaching/Standard Celeration Charting." The
masthead at the archives <http://tinyurl.com/y8twxf6> reads: "The
Standard Celeration listserve (SClistserv) came about to serve all
people interested in precision teaching (PT) and standard celeration
charting. . . . . . ." As indicated in Hake (2007), Ogden Lindsley
(1991, 1992), a disciple of B.F. Skinner, is evidently the founder of
"Precision Teaching" and inventor of the "Standard Celeration" chart
(SCchart). For other references see Fluency.org
<http://www.fluency.org/>; "Precision Teaching Hub and Wiki Blog"
[Claypool-Frey (2010)l; "Precision Teaching and Standard Celeration
Charting" [Kubina 2010); and the Standard Celeration Society [SCC
(2010)]. For a good set of references see Clayton et al. (2007). For
related books see e.g., Gardner et al. (1994), Heward et al. (2004),
Heward (2008), Johnston & Pennypacker (2008), & Vargas (2009). Vargas
(2009) discusses (a) Lindsley's development of "Precision Teaching"
and the SCchart; (b) "counts" as a measure of behavior; and (c)
interpretation of the SCchart.
Garner, J. 2010. "Re: Confessions of a Converted Lecturer #2,"
SClistserv post of 20 Mar 2010 18:54:50-0700; online on the OPEN!
SClistserv archives at <http://tinyurl.com/y8o6mge>.
Hake, R.R. 2010b. "Re: Confessions of a Converted Lecturer #2,"
online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://tinyurl.com/yzv9f2v>.
Post of 18 Mar 2010 11:07:0-0700 to AERA-L, Net-Gold, and PBL. The
abstract is was transmitted to various discussion lists. See also the
preceding "Re: Confessions of a Converted Lecturer" [Hake (2010a).
Hake. R.R. 2010d. "Could 'Precision Teaching' and the Wider
Education Communities Learn Something From One Another?" online on
the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://tinyurl.com/ye5rrnq>. Post of 25
Mar 2010 11:47:54-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract is also
being sent to various discussion lists and is online at
<http://hakesedstuff.blogspot.com/2010/03/could-precision-teaching-and-wider.html>
with a provision for comments.
Mazur, E. 2010. "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer" talk at the
University of Maryland on 11 November 2009. The abstract reads: "I
thought I was a good teacher until I discovered my students were just
memorizing information rather than learning to understand the
material. Who was to blame? The students? The material? I will
explain how I came to the agonizing conclusion that the culprit was
neither of these. It was my teaching that caused students to fail! I
will show how I have adjusted my approach to teaching and how it has
improved my students' performance significantly." That talk is now on
UTube at <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwslBPj8GgI>; and the
abstract, slides, and references - sometimes obscured in the UTube
talk - are at <http://tinyurl.com/ybc53jw> as a 4 MB pdf.
As of 27 March 2010 13:16:00-0700 Eric's talk had been viewed by
15,928 UTube fans, up from 12,800 on 16 March 2010. In contrast,
serious articles in the education literature, often read only by the
author and a few cloistered academic specialists, usually create
tsunamis in educational practice equivalent to those produced by a
pebble dropped into the Pacific Ocean.