Interesting articulation of what it is to prepare for teaching students versus what it is to prepare for creating learning (by Jack Meacham, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, University at Buffalo-State University of New York in Tomorrow’s Professor blog)
“When I was a new assistant professor, I gave much time, thought, and energy to my courses. I worked late the nights before on classroom presentations and rose early the mornings of my classes. I read and reread and underlined and took notes on the key books and chapters as well as the current articles on the topics that I was teaching. I continued to reorganize and revise my lecture notes (most of my teaching has been with large classes) until just before I walked to the classroom, adding additional material and making certain that I was prepared for any questions the students might raise. Looking back, I can see that I was making a simple error: I was mistaking my own learning for the students’ learning. I thought that if I had learned the material well, my extra preparation would magically increase my students’ learning.”
Also includes a good starting point for use of technology in a course:
“The criterion for bringing technology into my courses should always be: will this enable me to pose questions that better engage my students, spark their curiosity, and push them to think critically and, ultimately, to learn?”
The comments seem to highlight a polorised views of transmission of knowledge versus constructivism…
