Round 1
Samantha Stein – America, while it isn’t the top rated country for education, is doing a good job at educating students using top research. We have access to numerous sources for valuable research including online databases, our own library and research scholars at the school. This all is useful information for us to have as we pursue our education. We also have a good blend of online, hands on and lecture instruction. Here at Michigan Tech, we have numerous on campus resources that help students learn such as learning centers, tutors and plenty of professors that have office hours. Small class sizes allows for more individual attention for every student, which helps them understand things better as well as have the confidence to speak up when they don’t understand. There’s always room for improvement; all in all, we have a cohesive system that prepares students the material they need to know to be successful.
Anthony Lackey – Michigan Tech is no stranger to the poorest teaching method out there — the infamous lecture. A study published in 2013 titled “Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics” puts forth compelling evidence that shows in a traditional lecture setting students were 1.5 times more likely to fail than those who were learning with an active learning approach. An article from Science Magazine by Aleszu Bajak cites a Harvard physicist who also disagrees with the lecture format and has separately campaigned against the stand and deliver technique for 27 years. We see the lecture style implemented here at Tech in large, introductory classes where the student is most vulnerable to the readjustments a move to college style education brings. It is in these cases where students are expected to succeed with the complex ground work that all of the sciences are built upon, classes like physics 1 and 2, chemistry and calculus.
Round 2
Lackey – With lecturing being found as a lacking style of teaching, what is there left to use? An active learning approach is the next likely choice as it allows a freedom of style that give the instructor the capacity to choose their preferred methods and to switch up different components of their individual styles to suit the circumstance. The largest component of this method, however, is allowing for smaller class sizes to engage students with their instructors and to encourage discourse surrounding the topics. Student centered learning is a modern idea which focuses on the methods with which to engage the student in learning. Engagement is going to be a key word for any style of teaching and encouraging students to become interested in the material for the material’s sake rather than for the grade. In short, students need active and engaging classes to attend in order to assure a good return on investment and not just an expensive nap within a lecture hall.
Stein – Michigan Tech does have a lot of hands-on opportunities outside of lectures. I agree that lectures alone are not the most effective way to teach. If you look at the lecture as the sole resource and teaching method for the class, then yes, you miss out on a lot of things. That being said, college is meant for students to step up and take responsibility for their own learning. If someone wants to sleep during a lecture and not learn, then they are at fault and not the method. Instructors do their best to provide the content that students need to learn as well as inform them about resources outside of class that will benefit the students. Lectures also make sense when there are more students than classrooms available. However, there are learning centers that act as smaller, individual learning sessions. You cannot look at just the lecture without acknowledging the other opportunities that instructors make clear to students.
Round 3
Stein – There are more ways to learn than just in the classroom. Michigan Tech offers a lot of enterprises and student organizations that allow students to gain hands-on, real life experience. Many enterprise teams are sponsored by companies that help them grow and develop their skills. These companies also tend to help supply different tools and materials, allowing students to have access to high quality products to create high quality designs. A lot of students fail to learn in school because of their lack of participation in projects and dedication to learning the material. As I stated in the last round, college requires students to take responsibility for their learning. Teaching methods are not as important as people make it seem. Students must be able to adapt to different learning environments. A lot of students also need to reach out to use resources and take part in other learning opportunities made available to them if they need help.
Lackey – While it is an admirable thing that students be able to adapt and overcome the odds, as an institution that claims to exist for the education of those who seek knowledge, it behooves a university to implement the best practices available to teach students to ensure a quality education and that their statistics are as high as possible to attract prospective students. While hands on experience is important, the real foundation is built within the classroom where a student commits the concepts to memory and then is enabled to apply those concepts during hands-on skill building sessions where a physical demonstration or additional learning is to take place. A large built up infrastructure for supporting students who fail to learn inside of a classroom would be less of a requirement and more of a nicety if instructors were teaching using modern teaching methods which have been proved by studies such as the 2013 study aforementioned.
