Month: October 2007

Students in a cultural anthropology class at Kansas State U have created a YouTube video in which they attempt to explain the student experience. The presentation is new and interesting, the themes are now growing kind of old – large classes, costly textbooks no one reads, students memorize, students are bored, etc.How about applying this creativity to propose some solutions?- What do you propose as a way to change the fundamental economic factors supporting higher education?- How do you propose that individuals with many different interests – some fairly self-focused and self-indulgent – be motivated?- How do you propose that if students are unwilling to read they prepare themselves so that the learning experiences they encounter can be placed in some type of interpretive context?Just for the record -I would rather work with small groups of students and interact with them in a more meaningful way. I assume that the numbers and the resulting lack of interaction has something to do with finances. I would also rather evaluate your understanding in some other way than multiple choice exams, but again numbers are an obstacle. BTW – contrary to what you say, my experience in attempting to ask questions that require application or transfer result in more complaints than memorization questions. Evidently many seem to assume I must present any examples I ask questions about. Of course, these examples are memorized which gets us back to that memorization problem again. If it helps, I will tell you not to memorize. Thinking takes more time, but it is more rewarding. Like many things in life, how you learn is up to you.I agree that the textbook thing is a problem and that the costs are high. However, reading is a fundamental skill we all apply to acquire much of the information we live by. At this point, YouTube has yet to develop to the point that all weighty matters are covered. I kind of assume that quality comes at a cost and this applies to books and instructional materials of all types.I must be getting old. What has changed?* I suppose I thought books were expensive. I don’t remember thinking it was the prof’s fault I had to purchase a book. I continue to buy several a month and it would be nice if they were free. Perhaps I am tolerant of the cost because I get to pick the books.* I don’t remember thinking that MC tests were causing me to learn in an inferior manner. I did worry a little about what work I would do, but I enjoyed the experience of learning because the content was interesting to me. Things ended up working out. It was this interest in learning that ended up being most important and not whatever vocational preparation I received.* When I get in one of these moods, my wife reminds me that I skipped a class here and there. Of course, she is correct. I confess I also skipped some assigned reading. If I would have had a computer, I would also probably have checked email during class. What I don’t remember was the sense that I was forced into these actions by inadequacies in others or in the institution. I thought I was being independent.Raising questions related to the relevance of what we have been asked to learn is hardly new. The challenges are in determining what is relevant and in designating who gets to say so. Perhaps you have had the experience of realizing that what is now of great importance was not always relevant. I was trained as a “hard sciences” guy and now spend a great proportion of my time writing. I treated the required courses in writing as a necessary evil. I wanted to learn important stuff and not waste my time writing themes that required proper grammar and creative expression. It is probably a good thing all of the choices were not left to me.