Re:Academic papers are hidden from the public. Here's some d...
by nooneelse on Friday September 16, 2011 @02:58PM
(#3005784)
Concerning the questions students ask. I completely concur that it is an issue.
I have only ever taught lab classes, and even in those groups of 10-14 people, getting people comfortable enough to ask their questions took a skill (I don't know if I ever got the hang of it) and constant attention toward not shutting people down. The times that the class was split into lab-partner teams of 2 people, and I roamed between those teams, the questions were far more free-flowing, and about basic/fundamental concepts. Letting me know I probably wasn't covering those kinds of concepts well enough other times, but I wasn't getting feedback on it because no one had wanted to ask.
In my possibly biased and very limited experience, it was usually students with more "in-your-face gruffness" that would speak-up in larger groups to ask about basic things I wasn't explaining as well as they needed. It made me appreciate that personality type more.
I have only ever taught lab classes, and even in those groups of 10-14 people, getting people comfortable enough to ask their questions took a skill (I don't know if I ever got the hang of it) and constant attention toward not shutting people down. The times that the class was split into lab-partner teams of 2 people, and I roamed between those teams, the questions were far more free-flowing, and about basic/fundamental concepts. Letting me know I probably wasn't covering those kinds of concepts well enough other times, but I wasn't getting feedback on it because no one had wanted to ask.
In my possibly biased and very limited experience, it was usually students with more "in-your-face gruffness" that would speak-up in larger groups to ask about basic things I wasn't explaining as well as they needed. It made me appreciate that personality type more.