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Re: Wolfson's Way (PH 101)



I would second Tim, and disagree with Mervin.

Unfortunately minimal effort does not promote good conceptual gain. This is
quite evident from Hake's survey of 6000 students. Interactive Engagement
requires a large effort from the instructor, especially at the beginning.
Even after the instructor has become comfortable with the methods, he or she
must still not slack off. The instructor must know what to ask, when to ask
it, and be continually attuned to what students are saying. You have to be
on your toes every minute, and ready to react instantly.

Essentially good teaching is just as demanding as any physics research
project. Every year you must make some adjustments for the students. In
addition you must continually monitor what is going on by pre and posttests
so you can then adjust what you do. As with any experiment you make an
adjustment that you think will improve the results, and you find half the
time that everything fell apart. You are then faced with the task of going
back and trying to find out what went wrong. It is extremely demanding and
intellectually challenging.

This does not mean that you spoon feed the students better. Rather you
adjust what you do to force the students to confront their preconceptions,
and how they are currently thinking. One of the most noted teachers,
Richard Feinman, put a tremendous effort into his lectures in order to
improve his student's learning. They are indeed a model of clarity. In the
end he found that they did not seem to learn any better, or indeed any
worse. He did not realize that his conception of how students learn did not
line up with reality. If he had realized this, he would probably have
taught like Hake, McDermott, Laws, Aarons, the Hellers .... Maybe they could
comment on whether getting students to learn is an easy task which can be
done with minimal effort.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l@lists.nau.edu: Forum for Physics Educators
[mailto:PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu]On Behalf Of Tim O'Donnell
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 6:21 AM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Re: Wolfson's Way (PH 101)


Hi all-
Mervin writes:
On Wed, 5 Sep 2001, MERVIN KOEHLINGER wrote:

"Teaching and learning are not synonymous. Each requires
maximum effort from the practitioner."

I say, "Nonsense!". Learning requires maximum
effort. Teaching
only involves enough effort to persuade the student to give
maximum effort.

I don't think you can do that with a minimal effort. I
think it takes a lot to get students to give the maximum
effort. Actually, I think it takes my maximum to get the
students to do the minimum required. I know I work
harder today to accomplish my goals than I did 25 years
ago to get the students to work. Maybe it is because
students today seem to have many more opportunities to
do things; when I talk to students, it seems they are
busier than they used to be.


Or, the teacher who gives maximum effort is
depriving the student
of the experience of knowing the need to give maximum
effort.

Maybe we're not all agreed on what teaching is all
about. Or,
maybe, many people who become teachers do so as a means of
expressing their own need to "give maximum effort"
regardless of the effect on their students.
Regards,
Jack


--
Franz Kafka's novels and novella's are so Kafkaesque that
one has to wonder at the enormity of coincidence required to
have produced a writer named Kafka to write them.
Greg Nagan from "The Metamorphosis"
in
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