Independent learning or I am not here to tell you the answers October 24, 2006
Posted by gesta in Academia, Debate.trackback
We are now into week three of what is turning out to be not the world’s greatest term/semester. I am tired and stressed already and I am tearing my hair out at my students’ neediness. Clearly there is a failure of communication somewhere.
This term I am teaching at two institutions. One I have taught at before and indeed have taught the course before. Aside from chronic administrative chaos, I have no problems there. The other university is new to me, though I have adapted a course taught previously somewhere else. At this new institution, I have a second-year group of about 25. Aside from the problems I have had with the administration and communication in general at this place, I thought that at least the students would be fairly on the ball and would be able to help me out a little in terms of how things are organised. Bear in mind I am at this university one day a week only.
Well, I can only say that this has proved to be a hugely incorrect assumption. I have commented elsewhere in this blog on the need to instill a sense of independent learning, so students can make best use of contact hours and do themselves justice. This concept seems utterly alien to my students at this other institution. Handouts are forgotten; library catalogues are to be feared rather than used and readings left in a drawer for convenience are removed (despite the large notices) never to be seen again. Failure to read the instructions in the handbook is endemic.
I have explained and better explained the need to organise one’s time; to talk to other people in the class; to share books and to do independent research. All of this falls on deaf ears. This week will see their first piece of written work and an exercise involving independent research into primary sources. I await the results in trepidation, but hope I am proved wrong in my gloomy predictions.
History is not about being told the answers by a distant professor: it is about reading, thinking, distilling and reaching our own conclusions. I aim to teach, not just about the middle ages, but also the skills necessary to function in the wider world. These skills of analysis, comprehension and communication will not be acquired through me telling the students what they want to know – i.e. what to write in their exams and essays. I don’t want to read parroted versions of what I said in class. I want them to be challenged and in turn, to challenge me.
It must be hard to instill that kind of ethic in a student. I have never thought about this sort of thing, probably because I am a student myself.
I’m not sure if you need advice or not, but I find that classes that engage me to think independently cause me to write independently. Though this is a stupid and obvious answer that any moron (like me) could think of, it’s not practiced as much (in my experiences in lower-level classes especially) as it’s obviousness may imply.
In first and second year I felt completely overwhelmed by the might of education; my creativity cowered in the face of new and confusing assignments. I latched onto whatever I could that would get me a reasonable mark. It has only been recently (within the last two semesters) that I have found room to become more of an independent thinker. I am aware of the styles and my professors seem to respect and allow opinions voiced in class more often. My papers now seem much more engaging and real than my earlier reiterations of the textbook or class notes.
I doubt this will help, but good luck anyways!
Thank you for your comment Sean. Are you a student in the US? What sort of group sizes are you taught in? I see this group for three hours (2 hours and 1 hour) but only ever as a group of 25, so it is even more important that the students develop independent learning skills quickly. I teach using a mixture of formal lecture, group work (looking at primary sources) and seminar discussion, which hopefully gives everyone a chance to contribute.
Best of luck with the rest of your studies and for the continuing independence of mind.
I go to school at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. My class sizes vary; one of my classes has 9 students (it’s a specialized 4th year class) and the rest range from 30 to 90 students. My professors lecture and lead discussions that are sometimes the result of group work. all of my courses are a combination equaling to four hours (per class) a week.
Reading things more critically really helped me form more independent papers as well.
Best of luck to you as well!
On the subject of independent learning, see this latest report in the Guardian.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/universityteachinginspection/story/0,,1935207,00.html
The figures come as no surprise to me in the slightest, though I would say that independent learning is facillitated better if class sizes are kept small. Seeing a group of 25 students as a group of 25 for all three contact hours for my course is unacceptable. Of course, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t go much more wider reading.
I hope to post about this in more detail later.
[...] Following on from my recent post about independent learning, a recent survey reported by various bodies including the BBC and the Guardian has brought the concept to a wider public. Shock horror! It would seem that students at different universities doing different subjects have different work rates. [...]
[...] teaching, and been paid a fraction of the rate. Our qualifications are comparable. Last year, as my ranting showed, I was teaching in not one, but two places. I put up with this as hourly-paid teaching, [...]