| Nobel laureate Carl Wieman,
Canada
's new guru of science teaching, runs a
think-tank on teaching science at the
University
of
British Columbia
. He was in Toronto in the fall of 2007 to give
a presentation to over 500 U of T and York professors, encouraging them to
rethink how they teach.
The $2
million-a-year Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative will work with
science professors in several UBC departments over the next five years to
start applying fresh research on how people learn. The focus of the
research may have a profound impact on all courses of study, right down to
the elementary school level. His prime message: Teachers should deliver
less content and give more time for students to debate with each other
about ideas.
Louise Brown, an Education Reporter with the
Toronto Star, reported on his visit in the November 4, 2007 issue of The
Star.
Hi pointed out answering questions and
persuading others to adopt your point of view is what stimulates protein
in the brain and this stimulation is what leads to long-term memory.
"Studies show we can remember only
seven items at a time and can process only four ideas at once, so having a
professor read from a textbook is not an intelligent way to transfer
information. It's like overloading a computer that doesn't have enough
memory," Wieman says.
Wieman pointed out that the "old style
of lecturing" resulted in the average student mastering no more than
30% of key essential concepts. However, by reducing the load of
information and requiring students to "work the brain
vigorously" you can increase the retention to about 65%.
He used the example of trying to improve the
strength of your muscles by reading about exercising.
"To develop the brain, you've got to
use it and use it vigorously. You can listen spellbound to a lecture, but
if your brain isn't busy asking questions, 10 minutes later you won't
remember it." |
