After Christmas, my wife and I took our kids (ages 13 and 15) for a week-long trip to New York City. We went to a few of the usual tourist attractions (like the Statue of Liberty) but we also tried to visit some sites that were off the beaten track, including Harlem. Like many people, my impression of Harlem was shaped in the 1970s Continue reading “If You Know — Teach!” — Mark Morton
Category: Teaching & Learning Theories
The High Cost of Intellectual Poverty: How Myths About Intelligence and Talent are Slowing Human Progress, 2010 Hagey Lecture by Dr. John Mighton – Paul Kates
We had the pleasure of two fine speakers last week at UW, John Mighton and Eric Mazur. Both had a good deal to say about what they discovered while teaching. You can read about Professor Mazur’s talk Memorization or Understanding: are we teaching the right thing? in a recent posting on this site. Today I’ll spend time with Dr. John Mighton, mathematician, playwright, author and founder of JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies, grades 1-8). Continue reading The High Cost of Intellectual Poverty: How Myths About Intelligence and Talent are Slowing Human Progress, 2010 Hagey Lecture by Dr. John Mighton – Paul Kates
You think physics is hard? Try teaching. -Gina Passante
Yesterday I attended Prof. Eric Mazur’s lecture entitled “Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?” As a physicist with an interest in physics education, I was quite excited to hear Prof. Mazur speak. Continue reading You think physics is hard? Try teaching. -Gina Passante
Eric Mazur to visit Waterloo campus – Trevor Holmes
Renowned physics education pioneer Eric Mazur will be at Waterloo Dec 1 2010. Before there were clickers, before there was a “Force Concept Inventory,” Mazur was developing “interactive engagement” or peer instruction (see a two-minute video here).
The talk is co-sponsored by Physics and Astronomy and the Centre for Teaching Excellence. Here’s the ad: Continue reading Eric Mazur to visit Waterloo campus – Trevor Holmes
Fonts of Wisdom: Difficult Typefaces Cause Better Learning — Mark Morton
I have a friend who is a graphic designer, and he specializes in creating typefaces: a new typeface, he tells me, can take a year to design if it’s done right, which means making it work both in term of aesthetics and functionality. In other words, it needs to be both beautiful and easy to read. A new study coming out Princeton, however, suggests that easy to read typefaces might have an unintended effect: they allow you read so quickly, that your comprehension — your decoding of the meaning — can’t keep up with your eyes. Continue reading Fonts of Wisdom: Difficult Typefaces Cause Better Learning — Mark Morton
John Michela’s Response to Gwyn Morgan — Mark Morton
In response to Gwyn Morgan’s Globe and Mail editorial (in which he decries the quality of university teaching), John Michela (of UW’s Department of Psychology) submitted a countering letter to the editor. The Globe and Mail published that letter on October 5, but in an edited form. Here, for the record, is Professor Michela’s unedited letter: Continue reading John Michela’s Response to Gwyn Morgan — Mark Morton
Generations – Trevor Holmes
I find myself in the rather awkward position of being the father of a teen whose friends — some of them — are now in their first week of classes in their first year of postsecondary studies. As of this week, I can no longer pretend to be that younger, cool guy on my students’ side of “geezer.”
Kidding aside, this is the week during which professors’ well-meaning colleagues, friends, family, and teaching developers Continue reading Generations – Trevor Holmes