Teaching and Learning part 4
A young teacher told me: “I want to be the best teacher and I spend a lot of time learning how to speak eloquently so I can be the best lecturer for my students.”
I told him: “My view of education is more about learning. Successful teaching should not be measured by how good teachers teach but by what students learn. You can give excellent lecture but when measured by its effects on learning, you may be surprised. If students cannot apply what they have learned, then the question is “Have they really been taught?” If they really learn, they need to be able to act on what they have learned. If they memorize all the math formulas but cannot solve problems, they really do not learn.”
“It is important for teachers to focus on students' learning and help them to deal with failure because each failure is another step toward success. Even when students do it wrong, they are still learning and it is important for teachers to encourage and motivate them rather than to fail them. I like the teaching in “The Book of Archery”: “Who said a hundred times that you missed has nothing to do with the time you hit the target?” The tradition education system is too eager to fail students because its goal is to select few elites but current education is about educate the mass to develop the skilled workforce for the knowledge society. Having more tests to eliminate students and select only few “special” elites is an obsoleted concept dated back to ancient time of dynasty and kingdoms. Today it is all about the ability to apply knowledge to innovate and create things therefore, the role of teachers is to facilitate, motivate, and encourage students to learn and learning is the ultimate goal of education.”
“Students should learn the basic knowledge then apply them to develop skills. Knowledge and skills are two sides of the same coins as they complement one another. What will happen when students do not understand a concept? It means they need more information as they have not process it well. Teachers should explain to them in another way by using examples instead of continue to lecture about the theory. Sometime a concept is too abstract and they need time to process it. If you continue to lecture, it will confuse them more. Instead you should use simple examples so they can relate to it and come up in their own way to understand it. This is how complex problems are resolved by breaking them into smaller, easier pieces. Best teachers do not give answers or fix problems for students, but to equip them with certain skills so that they can fix the problems for themselves, and this is where learning happens.”
“What students know and be able to do is what true learning is. Therefore future testing should be focus more on doing not memorizing. Students need frequent assessments on what they think they know and that is why I like to have weekly tests so students can assess what they have learned, what they missed so they can relearn. I do not like to ask questions such as “What is the definition of XYZ?” or “Describe what ABC is …” because they only require students to memorize things. Today anybody can “Google” the answers from Wikipedia. The better test questions would be putting them in a situation and let them solve the problem and teachers should use more “case studies” in class instead of just lecturing. Teaching using case studies will make students to think and develop problem solving skills instead of just memorize the answers or the formulas.” That is why I consider the goal of education is about how much students learn not how well the teacher lecture.”
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
