I have learnt one thing as I have learnt "Physics" and "Other things". If you want to learn you must pose questions.
If you want to learn something and you dont know it then you jolly well realize that "you dont understand it". It helps to pose questions to zoom in to the specific issue (within a larger set of concepts) that is the cause of "lack of understanding" . However, if you are unaware of your lack of understanding (or hide this fact from yourself), then you are in soup. Learning requires a bit of humbleness and acceptance that "I do not understand this".
The act of trying to posing a question is a useful learning device. However, it is one that we rarely use as teachers. Raghu insists that a student ask a clear question if they want an answer. Not a bad device. If a student can pose a clear question, she is already on her way towards an answer. I have not been using such a device. However, one must use it frequently.
The quality of questions are also an indication of a student's intellectual ability. Likewise, helping students to probe deeper and ask hidden (less obvious questions) can help improve their intellectual ability.
These are methods, which I think, we should use in our classrooms and in our interaction with students. I also believe that it will instill greater excitement in the students.
2 comments:
Gaurav
questioning is possible only if there is total disregard or lack of fear. only when there is completely assured respect from the other party (or no likelihood of scorn), does one bare his/her ignorance or poor understanding to others in this fashion.
often this is possible only in front of your peers and friends. therefore peer learning, or a regular exercise to interact with your fellow students or colleagues is useful.
in fact, since students come to higher learning institutions with many pre-conceived notions (poor understanding or wrong 'intution' regarding the workings of physical world) that it is impossible to help them without understanding their vocabulary and why it came to be that way.
now, teachers need not do all the dirty work. if you allow them to interact with themselves over time, inculcate the habit to have discussions without scorn or any ill-will, making it all a part of process, students will weed out wrong ideas of their fellow students in their own words. they possibly understand the background much better.
there is a need of a knowledgeable teacher like you or Raghu, but it helps only to a small fraction of students directly. even those will gain significantly by peer interaction (Onkar Parrikar will speak to his friends, for example).
Speak to Akash who has come fresh from Harvard, he may have something to add to this...
keep going, btw, take your time and write more about your experience so far as well.
cheers,
ashish
Ashish,
True. Lack of fear is important. Infact, its important everywhere. The environment in our classroom must reduce the element of fear. There is a "fear" of teacher & "fear" of the peer group. The teacher must give a respectful response to questions. That goes a long way in reducing fear of the teacher. It will also reduce fear of "peer group" since the peer group realizes that the question of their fellow student was found to be deserving of a respectful response.
As teachers we often give a direct response to a question. As you point out, whereas it may often be better to probe & prod students in the correct direction.
Ashish, in the statistical mechanics course this sem, I grouped students together to solve certain problems (of the type where I thought a discussion may be possible) and they had to give an answer as a "group". This meant that they had to interact within themselves. Unfortunately, it didn't work. For one, the attendance within 2-3 lectures dropped (as it always does) and so naturally, the groups disintegrated. However, I wouldn't regard this technique as an impossible one. I'll continue to try it out in some form and hopefully arrive at some optimal & correct usage of this method.
I have tried another technique this semester. I leave out a few steps of reasoning (not algebra) during the lecture. Students are meant to fill this up. Those who've grasped the lecture well should be able to (with some application of mind) draw correct conclusions. This is a graded exercise. Number of questions posed by students shot up suddenly on the 1st time I tried this out. I will try this out more often in other course. Its success depends on the questions posed to the class. They should be challenging enough without being nearly impossible for the students.
Gaurav
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