I have sat through perhaps thousands of University course lectures and wondered since the first day if there couldn't be a better way to do this. A professor or graduate assistant standing at the front of the room droning on with information that does not relate in a useful way to text material is something left over from 100s of years ago when books were very scarce and very expensive. That is not the case now and has not been for many years.
Right now (noon to 1PM, Jan 4, 2012) SDPB-Radio is running a program from American Radio Works titled "Don't Lecture Me". The gist of it suggests that science and math lecture instruction is currently very ineffective uses of professors' and students' time.
College instruction which is aimed primarily at sorting out unworthies such as that at SDSM&T prevents serious consideration of alternate instruction systems which might not waste the time and lives of 2/3 of the students who start at SDSM&T.
If you want to get an idea of how science instruction/education must be changed if the US is not to languish in Science and technology becoming the equivalent of a third-world science country, listen to "Don't Lecture Me".
Systems based on scarcities of year 1440, do not make sense in 2012 and haven't made sense for many years. Faculty administrators and professors have a cushy familiar system which benefits them primarily and their students only secondarily or thirdly or worsely {I know, but as my daughter used to say, "It could have been wuss, mommy.").
The South Dakota Board of Regents is failing nearly completely to seriously consider the time and resources of students. The whole South Dakotahigher education system needs very fundamental re-working based on how humans actually learn. But, don't hold your breath, this should have been obvious nearly 100 years ago.
by Doug Wiken opinion based Public Radio and enduring a score of years listening to lectures.
Recent Comments