Professors Question the Inclusion of Teaching Materials

Sean:

I hesitate to add to a good document.  The video is what it is.  Students speak.  Then we get nervous and go through our cycles of denial and response, and our responses will change as educational movements evolve.  The only stable and reliable component here is the video itself.  Students speak.  

If we do add anything, I would be careful not to date the video with any suggestions that might be "period pieces" in education.  However, there are some good tips that the students indicate that have to do with our responsibilities when we give reading assignments.  I have a list of these if you are interested, things like:  Always have clear, specific goals when giving a reading assignment.  Know what you want the students to accomplish, and how they might assess their reading to assure that they are successful.  Make clear connections between reading assignments and other features of the class (lectures, demonstrations, group work, labs . . .).  You know, like that.

In the mid 70's after a few boatloads of refugees from IndoChina had arrived, Liz Flynn and I were called upon to give training workshops to clerical staff to help them adjust to this new, troublesome population.  People at the A&R window, for instance, were losing their patience, yelling at students who didn't understand their speech, being generally petulant and rude.  Liz and I examined the problems and wound up giving workshops that said things like,  "People from this region of the world regard yelling as open hostility, so should not be yelled at.  Stop yelling.  It is better to speak slowly and write, even point to text, rather than raising your voice."   People took notes, thought we were amazing in our cultural knowledge.  Liz and I had a hard time keeping a straight face.  Basically, we were telling people to stop being rude and impatient.  We could, of course, have filled in the ethnic tags with anything ("Californians regard yelling as open hostility . . .")

The video brings out more complex things than that phenomenon, but at one level, it reminds me of that experience.  The third time watching the video, I started seeing how basic the students' needs were.  They are often implying things like, "Stop assigning text that is never referred to or apparently ever used."  "Give reading assignments that have clear goals."

Ya think?

- Chownhill