Hey Higher Ed, Why Not Focus On Teaching?
Stanford physics and education professor Carl Wieman won a Nobel Prize for his innovative, break-through work in quantum mechanics. Wieman has since levered the prestige and power of that prize to call attention to the need to transform undergraduate teaching, especially science education.
Wieman's message, as we've reported here and here, is bold: Too many undergraduate programs fail to focus on teaching effectiveness or even bother to try to measure it. As he sees it, undergraduate Higher Ed still worships at the old false idol called the Big Lecture and doesn't seem to want to ask whether it's working.
His solution: Systemically through methods that have become known as . Wieman's been interested in effective teaching strategies for years. He argues that a well implemented active learning approach can substantially improve understanding and retention of the material and boost attendance and course satisfaction, among other improvements. His I recently about the book while hosting the show Forum on NPR Member Station KQED. Here are the highlights:
