The student - teacher gap
One of the big challenge that our schools face is ability to gauge student's comprehension during the class session. The comprehension is gauged only during exams. While in modern classes we do have active learning methods practiced that enables teachers to sample student comprehension much closer to delivery time than to the exam time, the traditional active learning has its pit falls. The biggest one being not all students engage in student centric interactions because of peer pressure or simply being overwhelmed by more active students. Or if these are not true in some classes, it is simply because of lack of time. Active learning needs a lot of time, and even in a class size of 25 students it may become extremely time consuming. As in true active learning each and every student has to contribute and be heard.
Challenge intensifies:
In larger classrooms the difficulty level of active learning increases exponentially due to :1. Peer pressure or Shy student higher in larger classes
2. Probability of chaos higher in larger classes
A typical bidirectional teacher-student interface scenario in a classroom follows the following sequence:
- Students consume content
- A few students ask for clarifications
- Teacher explains them
- Some students nod
- Teacher asks if any further clarification needed
- There is silence (and a few shake their heads)
- Teacher moves to next topic
The above sequence is predominant is larger classes (I have seen this in corporate meetings too) and the danger with this slip in comprehension is that the confusion lingers on and impacts subsequent comprehension of more advanced concepts. The more the time passes the less likely it is that the confused will interrupt the teacher. This could lead to a snowballed situation where rest of the lecture becomes meaningless and the student loses interest.
Technological solution:
One of the technology that can help here is the SRS or Student Response System, but alas the traditional SRS allow only restricted answering, and don't allow deep drill downs in real time.
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Ooooh, Sanjay, you got my attention with this one. I taught in the classroom (as high school teacher, grad student, and college professor) over a period of about 10 years, and now I have been teaching fully online classes for about 10 years. One of the reasons I really prefer online is because I have been able to tackle the problem of student engagement much more effectively by designing online learning assignments that are very different from what I would be doing in a classroom. When people ask, I always say that I don't want to go back into the classroom... and I'm not really sure what I would do if I did go back. Is there something I have learned from these years of teaching online that would help me solve the classroom dilemma (which you have defined VERY clearly here), something I would see with new eyes based on my experience of teaching outside of the classroom for so long...??? Writing in response to your challenge here would be a VERY good challenge for me I think. I haven't quite figured out just how this third assignment will work - do we get to pick any person's challenge to respond to? Yours is one I would choose (it's definitely the one that grabs me the most immediately of any of the challenge write-ups I have seen so far). If we get to choose the challenge we want to write on, I think I would like to write on this one for sure. My brain gears are already turning...
ReplyDeleteLaura, With your unique mix of teaching experience - first in classrooms and then in online classes, I am sure you would be able to design or confirm any technological solution that comes across for this problem. I am not sure about he third assignment but it looks like Paul Kim is heading in the direction what you suggest. Even if not, I would be obliged if you examine our solution (under design) and helped improve it further.
DeleteThe third assignment is indeed what you thought Laura :-)
ReplyDelete