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At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard...

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Saved by 13 people (-4 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-01-13


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has replaced the traditional large introductory lecture with smaller classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive, collaborative learning.

Highlighted by spudfriend

resistance from students, who initially petitioned against it

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research showing that most students learn fundamental concepts more successfully, and are better able to apply them, through interactive, collaborative, student-centered learning

Highlighted by dameron

on 2009-02-25 by dameron

Good reminder to resist the urge to preach. Further, if you're student-centered, then taking into account "intelligences" or learning styles/wiring is key. The experimental piece is really bringing it into experiential education.

physicists have been pioneering teaching methods drawn from research showing that most students learn fundamental concepts more successfully, and are better able to apply them, through interactive, collaborative, student-centered learning.

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“Just as you can’t become a marathon runner by watching marathons on TV,” Professor Mazur said, “likewise for science, you have to go through the thought processes of doing science and not just watch your instructor do it.”

Highlighted by dameron

on 2009-02-25 by dameron

Make them create it themselves. (Internally or externally..) Like Alex Kostic's dive in, then roll back.

In an article in the education journal Change last year, Dr. Wieman noted that the human brain “can hold a maximum of about seven different items in its short-term working memory and can process no more than about four ideas at once.”

“But the number of new items that students are expected to remember and process in the typical hourlong science lecture is vastly greater,” he continued. “So we should not be surprised to find that students are able to take away only a small fraction of what is presented to them in that format.”

Highlighted by dameron

on 2009-02-25 by dameron

Make sure to pick the concepts carefully, so they are overarching and not too narrow in scope (requires more of them). Then limit the number strictly, and control for them in the exercises (ala systema).

“So we should not be surprised to find that students are able to take away only a small fraction of what is presented to them in that format.”

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but today they meet in high-tech classrooms, where about 80 students sit at 13 round tables equipped with networked computers.

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Instead of blackboards, the walls are covered with white boards and huge display screens. Circulating with a team of teaching assistants, the professor makes brief presentations of general principles and engages the students as they work out related concepts in small groups.

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“There was a long tradition that what it meant to teach was to give a really well-prepared lecture,” said Peter Dourmashkin, a senior lecturer in physics at M.I.T. and a strong proponent of the new method. “It was the students’ job to figure it out.”

Highlighted by spudfriend

“There was a long tradition that what it meant to teach was to give a really well-prepared lecture,” said Peter Dourmashkin, a senior lecturer in physics at M.I.T. and a strong proponent of the new method. “It was the students’ job to figure it out.”

Highlighted by krochester

The failure rate for those lecture courses, even those taught by the most mesmerizing teachers, was typically 10 percent to 12 percent. Now, it has dropped to 4 percent.

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