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From: dph@faline.bellcore.com (Daniel P. Heyman)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,sci.math,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Student preparedness
Message-ID: <2145@faline.bellcore.com>
Date: 30 Dec 88 15:39:14 GMT
References: <4893@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <6435@killer.DALLAS.TX.US> <5237@pdn.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research
Lines: 24

In article <5237@pdn.UUCP>, reggie@pdn.UUCP (George W. Leach) writes:
> 
>        I think that the only way to discourage straight "xeroxing" of
> information is to try to encourage discussion and questions in the class.
> Just don't lecture, but try to establish a dialogue with the class.  This
> is much more difficult for an instructor who can look bad if a question
> can not be answered.  Somehow, the students must start to think.  
> 
From an instructors point of view, a class is most interesting
when the students get involved. Nothing is more boring than standing
in front of a class and lecturing to a bunch of scribes. This is
"negative feedback" in the sense that when your best efforts to
excite the class go unrewarded, you tend to put less effort into
preparing lectures. 

An instructor need not look bad if he can't answer a question. Some
questions require a lot of thought or additional research to answer.
I found it exciting when a student asked about something I hadn't
considered. This would force me to think about it, and then we both
learned something. I even observed a student ask a question that lead
to a joint paper with the professor. This is "positive feedback" that
benefits everyone.

Dan Heyman