Dear Harry and colleagues,
Jennifer makes a point which also includes the qeustion WHO we are - a high scholl extension, as sometimes suggested when we talk about K to...... or a genuine place of higher learning: as such, the asking of facts should determine at least less in the grading of things than in the past, partially because CHEATING is so easy.
Achim
________________________________________
From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pence, Harry
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 8:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: NYTimes.com: Is Algebra Necessary?
Dear TB-ers,
Jennifer raises a question that I have tried to discuss several times with various groups, but never with much success. When almost all factual information is available at a student's fingertips (that being the location where most of our students seem to have a smartphone connected by a skin graft), how much factual information do we need to teach in class? I maintain that in each discipline there is some basic store of factual information that someone needs in order to understand reference material. To use Jenninfer's example, once you know the basic outline of English history, knowing all the kings and queens in order is unnecessary. For example, when having a conversation it is helpful to know off the top of your head that Queen Victoria was not around for WWI, but it is not necessary to know the names of all her children and who they married.
I think the role of a teacher in the 21st C is to provide a big picture of history (or whatever discipline) into which the student can integrate information from the global library as needed. It is more important to teach critical thinking than to teach a catalog of facts. The problem is that critical thinking is harder to teach. It requires the teacher to be fully engaged with the student, whereas just listing a group of facts is much easier.
To summarize, I would argue that in each discipline there is a store of facts that one must have in order to be considered educated in that discipline, but it is much smaller than what we have taught in the past. Will our classes look like this in the future? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYMd-7Ng9Y8
Cordially,
Harry
Harry E. Pence
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus
SUNY Oneonta
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From: Teaching Breakfast List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Withington, Jennifer
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 1:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: NYTimes.com: Is Algebra Necessary?
Dear TB-ers,
An interesting statement on the state of education and on college curricula.
I agree more with the comments made at the end of the article than with the author’s point of view. Just because students have trouble with a topic or it doesn’t appear relevant doesn’t mean we should drop it. I had to memorize the kings and queens of England from William the Conqueror to QE II. I can’t say this has really come in handy after the exam. Could we drop that and all those dates of wars from the curriculum?
Perhaps a discussion point for a meeting this semester.
Dr. Jennifer Withington
Asst. Professor of Biology
SUNY Oneonta
116 Science I
Oneonta, NY 13820
607-436-3421
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/is-algebra-necessary.html
Is Algebra Necessary? <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/is-algebra-necessary.html?emc=eta1>
A TYPICAL American school day finds some six million high school students and two million college freshmen struggling with algebra. In both high school and college, all too many students are expected to fail. Why do we subject American students to this ordeal? I’ve found myself moving toward the strong view that we shouldn’t…………
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