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Originally Posted by classicman
Not a teachers job to teach self-reliance. That is good parenting.
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Well, not just self-reliance, but initiative, responsibility, many things. Not a teacher's job? I'd say mostly it is parenting, but teachers can help - and they can also undo a lot of good. If the learning strategy is "here is a list of all the facts you need to know, beat them into your heads however you can", then the students will be trained into dependency and sheepicity. (That is so a cromulent word). If the strategy is 'pick a topic, find out stuff, tell us about it" then there is a bit more independence. If it is "find a problem, solve it" then this should foster independent thinkers.
The art of teaching is creating a situation with the right degree of support and freedom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aliantha
Zen, dazza tells me that he's noticing a growing number of students entering uni without the ability to write reports and things like that and who seem to expect the lecturer to practically write their papers for them. For example, he'll send them a web address to look for info, and they respond by asking for the exact link that corresponds to what they're doing.
This is a massive problem as I see it.
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Yup. Remember, my job is the back-up academic who students like that get referred to. Quite a lot of students are scarecly able to do more thinking than cut-and-paste from a source. Some of them struggle to do that.
To be educated today, IMHO, is not knowing a whole heap of facts, but rather having the ability to figure out what information you need, to find it, to assess the source for reliability, and to apply that information to solve your challenge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by monster
At our alternative school, once you have something, you reinforce it by helping/teaching others who haven't got it yet. Works a treat.
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: to your school learning strategy! MUCH better than more rote learning.