The notion of moving from theory to practice simply fascinates me! I get SO excited when students make the connection of theories discussed in class to real life applications! However, my observations have lead me to believe that our increasingly connected society through technology is beginning to lead to focus on the quickest possible way to get to the end product rather than the process itself of discovering the best solution. Sure efficiency is important, but is the purpose of education not to learn the process of getting to the end product rather than the end product itself?
Yet, it seems as though the loss of process focus has also lead to a disconnect between theory and practice or application of content - a sort of compartmentalization between a student's educational experience and the rest of their life in college. Is technology hindering or helping the connection between theory and practice - the process of application? Is it the responsibility of the instructor to reach out to ensure the connection is being made between course content and 'real' life? Or, is the student supposed to take the initiative to do so? Although I would like to say it is the student's responsibility to make connections, I think it is ultimately up to the instructor to pose the questions to provoke thought toward making those connections.
Also, my apologies for the rambliness of this post...my thoughts are not all together on this topic, but it is one that fascinates me to figure out new ways to help students make genuine connections between course content and their real lives (maybe technology could be a way to help facilitate discussions of this nature with students)!
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I also wonder about the topic you mentioned about the difference between learning the process rather than the information. The developmental teaching perspective that many of us identified with strives to address how students ask questions and reach those answers. With easy google searching, I find that teaching cannot simply be about facts, but rather how to answer questions because if you spend 5 minutes on google, you can generally find an answer. It is the higher level processes that we can develop in the classroom. I find it more important for students to be able to evaluate the material they read. I almost wonder if the ability of students to spend time online with google searches may actually bring them to realize more ways topics integrate with real-life. The question is how to get students interested enough in a topic to pursue those searches. Interesting thoughts!
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting time for education right now; answers are so easy to come by, but the accuracy of those answers may not always be what we hope. And it seems like the more information that students have at their fingertips, the less curious they are about it. Perhaps knowledge is too easy to come by these days, so people don't feel as driven to maintain information in their heads; they know that they can easily google any specific fact at any time. Definitely there is an expectation of "easy answers" that never existed before.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it can be effective to start with the answers then work backward to the question in order to discover the theories at work. Can you think of a particular lesson that could be taught this way?
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