Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in David Bressoud' s
(2011) latest MAA "Launchings" piece "The Best Way to Learn."
Bressoud <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bressoud> is DeWitt
Wallace Professor of Mathematics at Macalester College in St. Paul,
Minnesota, and Past-President of the Mathematical Association of
America.
Bressoud's first paragraph is [bracketed by lines "BBBBB. . . . ";
slightly edited:
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Last month, in "The Worst Way to Teach" [Bressoud (2011a)], I wrote
about some of the problems with instruction delivered by lecture. It
stirred up a fair amount of discussion. Richard Hake (2011a) started
a thread on the MathForum. He added several references to my own list
and sparked a discussion that produced some heat and a lot of light.
I do want to clarify that I recognize how important what I say in
the classroom can be, as I will expound a bit later in this column.
Nevertheless, I stand by my statement that "sitting still, listening
to someone talk, and attempting to transcribe what they have said
into a notebook is a very poor substitute for actively engaging with
the material at hand, for doing mathematics."
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"The best way to learn is to do; the worst way to teach is to talk."
Halmos, Moise, & Piranian (1975), quoted by Bressoud (2011b)
"Some say that the only possible effect of the Moore method is to
produce research mathematicians, but I don't agree. The Moore method
is, I am convinced the right way to teach anything and everything. It
produces students who can understand and use what they have learned.
. . . . . There is an old Chinese proverb that I learned from Moore
himself: 'I hear, I forget; I see, I remember. I do, I understand.' "
Halmos (1988, p. 258)
REFERENCES [All URL's accessed on 1 August 2011; most are shortened
by <http://bit.ly/>.]
Hake, R.R. 2011a. "Re: Lecture Isn't Effective: More Evidence,"
online on the OPEN! MathEdCC archives at <http://bit.ly/r80W5i> along
with 10 responses as of 22 July 2011. Post of 15 July, shamelessly
cross-posted to Math-Teach, Math-Learn, MathEdCC, and RUME. See also
the subsequent posts Hake (2011b,c).
Hake, R.R. 2011b. "Re: Lecture Isn't Effective: More Evidence #2,"
online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/mXiXoh>. Post
of 20 Jul 2011 17:13:46-0400 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and
link to the complete post were transmitted to various discussion
lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
<http://bit.ly/rr2BQU> with a provision for comments. See also the
precursor Hake (2011a).
Hake, R.R. 2011c. "Re: Lecture Isn't Effective: More Evidence #4,"
online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/oVqvml>. Post
of 22 Jul 2011 14:52:44 -0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract
and link to the complete post were transmitted to various discussion
lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
<http://bit.ly/qC58LF> with a provision for comments.
Halmos, P.R., E.E. Moise, & G. Piranian. 1975. "The Problem of
Learning to Teach," The American Mathematical Monthly 82(5): 466-476;
the first page is online at <http://www.jstor.org/pss/2319737>.
Halmos, P.R. 1988. "I Want to Be a Mathematician: An Automathography
in Three Parts." Mathematical Association of America (MAA),
publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/pKtfrL>. Amazon.com
information at <http://amzn.to/oImPVB>.