The end of semester preparation week and the exam week are probably the most depressing weeks in my semester. I teach undergraduate students. I try to create (for lack of a better word!) smarter individuals. By the end, the outcome of my efforts boil down to a final exam or a final assignment. And what do I find? In the preparation week students ask me, "Is this question to be solved using ideas from this topic or the other one?", or "Have we done this topic in our course?", or the worst "What is the pattern of the question paper?" For some teachers the thought of not seeing their students may sadden them at the end of the semester. Not me, madam. I dread at the thought of seeing my students who may end up asking unimaginative questions.
I want my students to walk away from my course with love for learning. I have not been so successful in inculcating this affection. They have always found a way to reduce all my "interesting" questions to "will this or will this not come in exam" question. In this regard, Ken Bain's book does not help. The book talks about the philosophy of teaching but not so much on how to get them. Summary of the book is here. Every one knows that good teachers care about their students -- but how to translate that care to actions? How to use exams as a tool of improvement not a medium of assessment? How to encourage long term learning? The book reminds us of the core philosophies to remember while devising our courses, but it is not helpful in telling us how to get there.
I think the paradigm of learning changes over time. In my times, classroom learning was our first interaction with the subject. Today students can learn from books or online videos -- classrooms are a space for detailed interaction with the subject. In my times teachers were the primary source of knowledge. Today teachers are the most reliable source of knowledge. The fact is that learning has become harder -- youngsters are expected to know and rememeber a lot for their age. They are expected toapply their knowledge in many fields. In spite of the popularity of Ken Bain's book, the way to get these results remains a black box.
Last week, my students' gave their final exam. I have yet not been able to get myself to see their final grades. I know some of my very good students were burnt out by the mid-semester, so they would not have done upto their potentials. How does one cure burn outs? I know some of my students missed a couple of classes and fell behind on the material. How could that have been avoided? I know some students did not work hard and some worked too hard -- so they will get marks as per their karmas! I just hope that college education makes them significantly more smarter than what they would have been otherwise. In the mean time, my strategy is to avoid students in the final two weeks. Until I figure out how to improve learning outcomes, I shall avoid depressing ones.
I want my students to walk away from my course with love for learning. I have not been so successful in inculcating this affection. They have always found a way to reduce all my "interesting" questions to "will this or will this not come in exam" question. In this regard, Ken Bain's book does not help. The book talks about the philosophy of teaching but not so much on how to get them. Summary of the book is here. Every one knows that good teachers care about their students -- but how to translate that care to actions? How to use exams as a tool of improvement not a medium of assessment? How to encourage long term learning? The book reminds us of the core philosophies to remember while devising our courses, but it is not helpful in telling us how to get there.
I think the paradigm of learning changes over time. In my times, classroom learning was our first interaction with the subject. Today students can learn from books or online videos -- classrooms are a space for detailed interaction with the subject. In my times teachers were the primary source of knowledge. Today teachers are the most reliable source of knowledge. The fact is that learning has become harder -- youngsters are expected to know and rememeber a lot for their age. They are expected toapply their knowledge in many fields. In spite of the popularity of Ken Bain's book, the way to get these results remains a black box.
Last week, my students' gave their final exam. I have yet not been able to get myself to see their final grades. I know some of my very good students were burnt out by the mid-semester, so they would not have done upto their potentials. How does one cure burn outs? I know some of my students missed a couple of classes and fell behind on the material. How could that have been avoided? I know some students did not work hard and some worked too hard -- so they will get marks as per their karmas! I just hope that college education makes them significantly more smarter than what they would have been otherwise. In the mean time, my strategy is to avoid students in the final two weeks. Until I figure out how to improve learning outcomes, I shall avoid depressing ones.