Archive for the ‘Learning (general)’ Category

I have just finished reading The daVinci Code and I loved it! In Uni days I took the class "Biblical Studies" as an interest elective. The lecturer was Barbara Thiering and I felt at the time that she did an excellent job of revealing several belief-shattering concepts to us... most societies have creation stories that […]

Review: Paperback This book is about general problem solving ('in real life') but it could have applications in Problem Based Learning as used in educational institutions. It gives some good suggestions about identifying the problem and deciding what should be happening when the problem is solved. Then we assess the situation and look at causes […]

Review: 2-part CD-ROM Analyzing Teaching is based on videos of classroom experiences. The format is quite nice since it is all on the CD-ROM: the videos, the introductions and even a reflective journal which can be printed from the application. There are 4 different lessons analysed on the CD-ROM: 3rd Grade Language 7th Grade English […]

Visit to a Motivated Classroom is a US production by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. It is a 30 minute video with supplementary Viewer's Guide. The lesson is on pre-calculus mathematics - sine and cosine rules, to be specific. The title caught my eye, since the lack of student motivation seems to be […]

Many traditional classrooms have desks lined up in rows and columns that are sooo boring. The students have little chance to interact with each other (this is of course discouraged) so when they are asked to discuss something, they find it very strange. Where is the colour, the life, the fun, the interest in the […]

Definition of a College professor: someone who talks in other people's sleep... (W. H. Auden) So how long can students concentrate in a lecture? A brilliant speaker, giving a one-off lecture (and this is important), can hold the attention of a group of interested adults for an hour, easily. But the same person going to […]

We get our newer lecturers to sit in on a peer buddy's lesson. They observe the students - what they are doing, how they are reacting, what they appear to be learning, what points they go to sleep and when they are most engaged in the lesson. It's always an interesting experience to go along […]

Some of the forums on the Web are awesome - the community of learners/helpers out there is really interesting to observe. [I have been looking at javascript coding forums to try to solve a problem I came up with - it is easy to spend a lot of time going through unrelated problems and their […]

Gene (of National Library Board) gave his usual 'shameless' kind of presentation today for Life Sciences lecturers at my institution. I expected shocked looks on audience faces - and I was not disappointed. So why is he so creative? My take is that the National Library has not demotivated his enthusiasm for off-the-wall approaches. Most […]