Moving with the Times

When I was in high school I had a geometry class that I loathed. The class was taught to us the same way the teacher probably taught for their entire career. Put up a sample problem, work it out, then we were expected to know how to solve all the problems in the chapter. This however proved to be very difficult for me. Just the one example was not enough for me to understand the concept.

This is where I ran into issues with the teacher. He could not bring a concept down to my level for me to understand what was going on. I was in an advanced class, but I could not get the concepts to click. I think that teacher was stuck in another realm that did not believe in differentiation. Or technology. Or anything that wasn't 30 years old for that matter.

Teachers get so hung up on test scores and loose their students in the cracks of the system. Not all teachers are guilty of this, but I know a handful. There is another flaw though. We go through elementary, middle and high school with a plethora of differentiation, manipulatives, creativity, and so on. Then when we enter college there is a reverse effect. Again, not all professors are guilty, but I have had my share. We get to college sit in a hall for 50 minutes to over an hour being talked at, without a chance for group discussion. Research shows that we can learn form our peers and that peer to peer learning in beneficial. So what are we suppose to do when we are being taught on way for the better of 13 years then are dumped into another environment that expects us to just listen.

There does have to be a fine balance between lecture and discussion, but fundamentally there should be discussion. Where else are new ideas generated? Part of this is my personality that thrives on a good conversation, but there is another point here. We have to know how to interact in these types of academic settings with our peers. Without discussion ideas die and are not shared.