Smaller classes...better retention...MIT goes the Camosun way!

M.I.T. just figured it out...

"The physics department has replaced the traditional large introductory lecture with smaller classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive, collaborative learning. Last fall, after years of experimentation and debate and resistance from students, who initially petitioned against it, the department made the change permanent. Already, attendance is up and the failure rate has dropped by more than 50 percent."

Collaborative learning is a very wise thing to do. I use Google Docs in my second year Microbiology class. I have labs that connect directly to the theory taught in my lectures and I have very good retention. MIT is going the Camosun way with smaller classes. Unfortunately, not smaller tuitions.

Source: NY Times

It's going to be such a nice semester!!!

I have GREAT students this term, everybody seems to be prepared, eager to learn and, it seems to me, enthusiastic about the wonderful world of invisible life! Hurray....it is going to be a GREAT semester! Vive les bactéries!

I want to learn...and remember what I learned!

To all of you interested in teaching/learning, I urge you to read THIS ARTICLE from Macleans. Teaching behavior will influence learning habits and retention. After all, that's our goal, teach something the students will apply! Isn't it?

Image source: Flickr CC

Should we be surprized?

Found today...in PLOS Biology

"Community pressures place significant stress on teachers as they try to teach evolution, stresses that can lead them to de-emphasize, downplay,or ignore the topic."

Reach out!

Teaching tip #6: Open door

An open door is so much more than just a door. An open door invites for discussion, creativity and thinking. An open door is really telling your students that you care. An open door creates an opportunity for you to recall what you were then....just a kid with questions and, maybe, fear of the future! Now, there you are...a teacher, a professor, a parent or maybe.....a student! Remember where you come from. Just remember!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yewenyi/

Distance Learning...wonderful!

I started to teach a course with some students in the classroom and some in another city. It works perfectly well for several reasons:

• I am aware that the distant students are AS IMPORTANT as the students are in the class room
• I am aware that distant students need 2 to 3 seconds before they can hear me and I have to patient for their feedback
• I refer to them just as much as I refer to the students in the classroom (see first comment)
• Technical staff is ESSENTIAL for successful distance learning
• I am using tools that make sure students see where I am going...no laser pointers here!

Picture credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/philipyk/

Teaching tip #5 - a quick survey tells you where they fell

You are a good teacher...not doubt about it! You care and your students know that! But did they get everything you wanted them to get? Did they reach YOUR objectives? After class, ask them to write on a sheet of paper what THEY think was the most important message of your lecture. If it was in line with your own objectives...bulls eye! If not...next time make sure to come back on the last lecture. Easy!!!

Teaching tip #4 - DO YOU CARE ENOUGH?

I read this somewhere:

"People do not care about what you know until they know how much you care".

Caring is the MOST important thing when it comes to teaching. It does not matter if you are a seasoned professor or a novice...if you do not care, it shows or it will show very quickly. Students are not idiots and they will not care either. If you should ever stop caring, take a break. You might be burned out, or begin to be. If after that break you still do not care, your flame is out......choose another career...for the students sake!

Teaching tip #3: Spot the thermometer student

In a classroom it is sometimes difficult to know in real time if the students are receptive to what you say. Maybe they do not grasp what you want them to. Well, there might be hope...YES! In a classroom, some *students are more expressive than others, their body language is more obvious although they are not aware of this. Spot these students early and look at them every time you think something might be difficult to understand. Their frowning might indicate a problem...if so, repeat your concept from another angle and then ask if it is clearer....it works everytime! By the way, I call them my "thermometer students".

*PS. Do NOT tell them as they might become self conscious and you could lose their subconscious collaboration.

Teaching tip #2: Power point and laser pointers, a No-No?

Do you have a laser pointer? I do! Do you use it with your power-point slides? I used to! Not anymore! There is a very simple reason why I used to ...and do not anymore. The laser pointer is actually a good thing for the teacher...because we have in our mind a picture of what the students ARE SUPPOSED TO SEE...so we circle and underline with the laser pointer. This is not useful because the students ARE OFTEN WRITING AS WE TALK....the never see the laser pointer because it does NOT stay on the slide. Thankfully, there is a remedy to this. Power-Point has a feature that permits HIGHLIGHTING, DOODLING, CIRCLING things on your slide...and it stays there!

Here's how to use it: when you are on your slide, just right click and a box will appear! Select from the options and VOILÀ...just look at the picture that accompanies this blog and you will quickly understand how to use this simple tool. Use it on your next lecture and you probably will, just like me, get addicted to it!

Enjoy!!!!

The best science Podcasts

Podcasts are a very efficient, and fun, way to learn about the last developments in the world of science. I strongly promote this medium to my students and, one in a while, I quiz them on specific segments. Furthermore, these science podcasts are all produced by highly reputable journals and news organizations. Pure and FREE listening pleasure...Enjoy!

• Nature magazine podcast
• Science magazine podcast
• Scientific American podcast
• NPR Science Friday podcast
• The naked scientist podcast
• New Scientist podcast

There are more and more podcasts....so many things to learn and so little time!

The power of low tech teaching!

This blog is about Cyber teaching...or is it? I just want to share an experience. I teach at med school where all the students have their own tablet PC. All of their notes are in Power-Point format and that is great...HOWEVER....I decided yesterday to do something different. On one side of the class I used the projector, with the Power-Point slides. On the other side, I had a white board. Instead of going through the slides and babbling about whatever they had on them, I thought it would be a good idea to slow down the rythm. I started to draw, explaining as my "work of art" was being created. I was, as I was before I made extensive use of Power-Point, telling a story. After class, students came to me to tell me how they appreciated how I took the time to explain instead of going through a bunch of slides.

Teaching is about creating a contact with the students. Teaching is about reaching other people through knowledge transfer. Anyone can look at Power-Point slides and study them. A professor who teaches only with electronic media is not doing a better job than a professor who reads transparents. Teaching is NOT about reading something students can read by themselves.

The use of cyber teaching is a GREAT idea, I am totally with it and I use it quite extensively. I think it is important to remember that a Power-Point slide is just a high-tech transparent. Teaching is an art, not just a technique!!!

The problem with many academics...

You know what you teach about...but is it blurry for your students?
Students need a link. They need something to cling on. Students need applications. Students need demonstrations. The problem with many academics is this: they are the only ones interested in their subjects. They teach about something that is very specialized and not very relevant to the student experience.

I am not saying that very specialized subjects should not be taught. They should be but in a general context. A very specialized subject usually comes from a specific context. Applications and examples are sometimes difficult to find especially with very specialized content. It is, nonetheless, an important part of teaching. I think that if researchers have the imagination to conceptualize complex ideas...they should have the imagination to find examples that students can understand and rely to.

Intelligent Design for Dummies...really!

UK is under attack, creationism is striking! A group know as Truth in Science decided to promote these non-objective beliefs through distribution of DVD's and booklets. This group, with their spokesman Dr Richards Buggs financed a £20,000 creationism teaching program, targeting pupils in state and private schools.

According to the book of Genesis, life was created by God 6,000 years ago! 6,000!!! How can intelligent people, like Dr. Buggs who has a Ph.D. in plant science and an expert on polyploidy promote totally unscientific ideas. People might not agree about everything Darwin said, he made mistakes, but the science is there. DNA has been sequenced, microfossils have been carbon dated and they are way older that 6,000 years! I just do not understand...do you? Is there something I am missing here?

References:

http://www.bcseweb.org.uk/index.php/Main/RichardBuggs
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/28/nc