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cultivate versus weed out
Feb. 3rd, 2007 10:15 amI am taking two classes this semester. One, to learn something new, and the other to see if I can reconnect with something I once knew quite well and really loved.
One advantage of taking these classes now, in my 30s, is that I have a much better perspective on what I'm feeling and why I'm feeling it. I'm no longer merely reacting to my environment, but standing back and observing- me, the class, my feelings, the instructors, everything- and I have a reasonably rich basis of data for comparison, given that I have 14 more years of self-study than many of my classmates.
Class size is definitely a factor. With a class size of less than 20, an instructor can forge a connection with each student, and that connection has a definite impact on a student. With a large lecture hall, interaction is limited, and the instructor is separate.
But even more important than class size, I've found, is expectation. The effect of a students expectation is not to be discounted, of course, but in general it's a malleable thing- they're students, after all. Critically, what matters is the expectation of the instructor upon entering the room. It sets the tone for everything.
The math class is not an honors section, nowhere near it. The bright students came through in the fall semester, and are now busy at work doing other things. These students are playing perpetual catch-up. For the most part, they will not be mathematicians or engineers. But does that really matter? They're still students. Their minds are not fallow. And yet the tone of the class was set even before class started, in numerous missives from the professor. "10% of you will drop. Another 15% will fail- although one year I had over 50% fail!"
This is a man who seemingly feels that it is his given duty to turn as many people off of math as possible. And he's succeeding, with a vengeance. The air is thick with terrified resignation, both in lecture and in discussion. I'm sorry- any instructor who has over half of his class fail has himself failed. Thus another 100 students fail to see the beauty of math and instead learn that math is only to be endured.
Diametrically opposite is the CS prof, who literally entered the room with an air of "this is great! we're going to have fun! And it's going to be fun, because I know you guys can do this."
And so I look forward to my CS class, and drag myself to math lecture- when I had actually expected to really enjoy math and muddle through programming.
Despite my own desires, it all comes down to meeting the expectations of the professor.
Whatever they may be.
One advantage of taking these classes now, in my 30s, is that I have a much better perspective on what I'm feeling and why I'm feeling it. I'm no longer merely reacting to my environment, but standing back and observing- me, the class, my feelings, the instructors, everything- and I have a reasonably rich basis of data for comparison, given that I have 14 more years of self-study than many of my classmates.
Class size is definitely a factor. With a class size of less than 20, an instructor can forge a connection with each student, and that connection has a definite impact on a student. With a large lecture hall, interaction is limited, and the instructor is separate.
But even more important than class size, I've found, is expectation. The effect of a students expectation is not to be discounted, of course, but in general it's a malleable thing- they're students, after all. Critically, what matters is the expectation of the instructor upon entering the room. It sets the tone for everything.
The math class is not an honors section, nowhere near it. The bright students came through in the fall semester, and are now busy at work doing other things. These students are playing perpetual catch-up. For the most part, they will not be mathematicians or engineers. But does that really matter? They're still students. Their minds are not fallow. And yet the tone of the class was set even before class started, in numerous missives from the professor. "10% of you will drop. Another 15% will fail- although one year I had over 50% fail!"
This is a man who seemingly feels that it is his given duty to turn as many people off of math as possible. And he's succeeding, with a vengeance. The air is thick with terrified resignation, both in lecture and in discussion. I'm sorry- any instructor who has over half of his class fail has himself failed. Thus another 100 students fail to see the beauty of math and instead learn that math is only to be endured.
Diametrically opposite is the CS prof, who literally entered the room with an air of "this is great! we're going to have fun! And it's going to be fun, because I know you guys can do this."
And so I look forward to my CS class, and drag myself to math lecture- when I had actually expected to really enjoy math and muddle through programming.
Despite my own desires, it all comes down to meeting the expectations of the professor.
Whatever they may be.
