Back to ex-cathedra teaching
Here am I, back from winter lectures. I have been quite busy, giving lectures in three different towns! Recently, I restructured a course completely which I have held about ten times during the last three years. The last course evaluation was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
It was a well-designed course where each participant during these two days treated two out of six topics twice actively and consumed the rest twice by the presentations of their colleagues. So, if someone was with us mentally the whole time, (s)he was well prepared for the exam in the end. However, the students disliked the course. I was accused of being lazy and incompetent. This never happens to me in the other courses which are less interactive and less demanding. In fact, it is much easier for me to come with a powerpoint presentation and talk for two days through. There can be no surprises, no difficult questions, no discussions about why this student's solution is wrong or maybe not.
I can talk for days, and talk and talk and talk. But in the pedagogic course, we learned that we must not do this. We must make the course participants work. They must do exercise after exercise and discover the knowledge themselves.
Finally, it did not work. I will forget everything I learned in this course. The students want ex-cathedra teaching. It is less risky. When they do an exercise, they assume that it is wrong anyway. And if their colleagues present something, they, too, assume that it is wrong and not worth being listened. And when they come to a course, they do not expect to learn something there. They expect that they can write their emails there and plan for the exam preparation some days later.
So, in the completely revised version, I did my presentations most of the time and a very short case study exercise in addition, to have some change. That was completely OK and they liked listening to me and taking notes and all this school-like setting.
End of the story: I am back at ex-cathedra teaching. I do not know on which weak scientific basis trainers are taught to torture their participants by making them work. When the participants do the exercises, this is mainly out of mere politeness, not because they love it. Doing an exercise creates stress for them, like an exam. There is always the risk they do something wrong and loose their face in front of the whole group. Who loves this?
I do not completely give up hope to find some really genial, innovative trick for teaching. But for the moment, it is OK for me to stand and talk all day.
It was a well-designed course where each participant during these two days treated two out of six topics twice actively and consumed the rest twice by the presentations of their colleagues. So, if someone was with us mentally the whole time, (s)he was well prepared for the exam in the end. However, the students disliked the course. I was accused of being lazy and incompetent. This never happens to me in the other courses which are less interactive and less demanding. In fact, it is much easier for me to come with a powerpoint presentation and talk for two days through. There can be no surprises, no difficult questions, no discussions about why this student's solution is wrong or maybe not.
I can talk for days, and talk and talk and talk. But in the pedagogic course, we learned that we must not do this. We must make the course participants work. They must do exercise after exercise and discover the knowledge themselves.
Finally, it did not work. I will forget everything I learned in this course. The students want ex-cathedra teaching. It is less risky. When they do an exercise, they assume that it is wrong anyway. And if their colleagues present something, they, too, assume that it is wrong and not worth being listened. And when they come to a course, they do not expect to learn something there. They expect that they can write their emails there and plan for the exam preparation some days later.
So, in the completely revised version, I did my presentations most of the time and a very short case study exercise in addition, to have some change. That was completely OK and they liked listening to me and taking notes and all this school-like setting.
End of the story: I am back at ex-cathedra teaching. I do not know on which weak scientific basis trainers are taught to torture their participants by making them work. When the participants do the exercises, this is mainly out of mere politeness, not because they love it. Doing an exercise creates stress for them, like an exam. There is always the risk they do something wrong and loose their face in front of the whole group. Who loves this?
I do not completely give up hope to find some really genial, innovative trick for teaching. But for the moment, it is OK for me to stand and talk all day.
AndreaHerrmann - 30. Jan, 19:15
