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In his response to my post about students not spending the necessary
out-of-class time on their coursework, John Clement questioned whether
working problems out of class is effective. I would say it is effective for
some students and not for others. I want to make it clear that when I
stated students should spend three hours on task each week for each hour of
course credit (counting class time) I was not suggesting that this whole
out-of-class time would be spent working problems.
Major point: Each student should spend whatever out-of-class time it
takes... using whatever learning method works for each student... to assure
that he or she gains a reasonable grasp of the course material.
We know some students can learn from reading the textbook. Others can learn
from working problems by themselves while others learn better from solving
problems in a group. Some students can make good use of office hours to ask
specific questions to the professor. Some are bold enough to ask questions
in class. Some learn a lot from the labs. Other than academic dishonesty I
don't care what method works for each student, but I certainly expect each
student to discover and utilize whatever works for him or her.
Even though some don't learn well from problems, I do assign problems
because students need at least some experience trying to solve problems. I
also require that students keep a lab notebook and analyze lab data and
write a lab report because scientists need experience doing these things.
But problems and lab reports should not take the whole out-of-class on-task
time allotted by the adage of 3-hours work for each hour of credit. Once
the assigned work is completed, its' up to the student to figure out what
study method works best during the rest of the time.
Rick Tarara mentioned "life-long-learning." We have had several
university-wide discussions about life-long-learning and instilling this in
students is one of my goals. This goal is not inconsistent with what I have
said above; that is, all students have to figure out how they learn best,
and they also need to realize they are capable of learning, and that
learning things is is rewarding. If they can get to that point, they are on
the road to life-long-learning. This is not likely to happen if the only
thing they do is attend classes because that is more likely to instill the
belief that their learning is dependent on the professor.
I also agree with what Rick said about straight lecture being rare. I have
observed very few profs at my institution giving 50-minute "speeches." All
kinds of techniques are used. Even so, the students aren't going to learn
enough from those class periods only. They need more on-task time out of
class than they need in-class time. I still believe 2-hours out of class
for each hour in class is in the right ballpark.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Chair, Division of Natural and Applied Sciences
Bluffton University
1 University Drive
Bluffton, OH 45817
419.358.3270 (office)
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