Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mcnc!ecsvax!hes
From: hes@ecsvax.UUCP (Henry Schaffer)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Ph.D.'s and Teaching
Summary: getting students to answer questions - and other techniques
Message-ID: <4440@ecsvax.UUCP>
Date: 18 Jan 88 02:37:33 GMT
References: <2144@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU> <115@mccc.UUCP> <3469@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu> <261@tmsoft.UUCP>
Organization: NC State Univ.
Lines: 42

In article <261@tmsoft.UUCP>, mason@tmsoft.UUCP (Dave Mason) writes:
> ... [lots of good stuff deleted]
>  My usual response is to say something like: "If you have a
> question, ask it cuz there's probably several other people who have the
> same question, and are just too shy to ask."  This usually gets a
> question, which leads to another & we make some progress. 
> 
  This approach does work - but it may take a while (i.e., a number
of lecture sessions before the students "trust" you that asking questions
is really ok.  From the point of the teacher - it is easy to *say* that
questions are welcome - it is not as easy to *act* as if they are. 
(Especially hard to avoid the put-down "It was in the reading assignment
for this lecture." when it was in the reading assignment.)  The
instructor must be able to either give a substantive answer, or to avoid
it when desired - and do it without turning off the students.  There are
many ways to accomplish that if you think it through ahead of time and
have some good phrases ready - e.g. "That's a good question but I can answer
it better next week when I've finished development of this topic."  - and
then remember to point out when you are answering it in a future lecture - you
can believe that the student who asked it will remember and feel good
when you mention that here is the answer.
> ... [section on "loose teaching style"]
>   Even the classes
> that had seemed so bright and alive the first time, seem dryer when
> taught from the notes.
  Now to get back on my favorite hobby horse.  This is where I bring
up the essence of the art of presentation and the relevance of show
business or theater skills ...  Can you imagine the singer, musician
or actor who doesn't rehearse for such reasons!  (There are such,
they may be happy as amateurs, they just don't make it as professionals.)
One of the essential parts of the preparation is to make it sound/seem/
actually be just as bright and alive - even though you are presenting it
for the thousandth time.  In fact, it should even be better the
thousandth time, because you have been able to improve your timing, weed
out poor phrases, find better examples ...  That's why they 
take shows "on the road" before the "opening".  That's why I'd suggest
that part of the preparation for teaching should be training in the
show business type of presentation.
(Got to sign off now, the sermon detector in our local inews version
just started beeping.)
> 	../Dave
--henry schaffer  n c state univ