Post-lecture IUP course September 2011

1. Post-lectureIUP courseSeptember 2011 Frederik Voetmann Christiansen Michael May

2. Course website • Slides from the course: http://iupseptember2011.wikispaces.com

3. New ideasaboutteaching in conservativesettings?

5. Conflict of interests

6. Two types of belief • Self-efficacybeliefs: Belief in onescapacity to perform a specifictaskwell (e.g. teaching). • Outcomeexpectancybeliefs: Beliefthat the environmentthatyouare in is somehowunresponsiveorunappreciative of efficacy.

7. ”Peoplecan give up tryingbecausetheyseriouslydoubtthattheycan do what is required. Ortheymaybeassured of theircapabilities but give up tryingbevausetheyexpecttheirefforts to producenoresults due to the unresponsiveness, negative bias, orpunitiveness of the environment. ” (Bandura, 1982)

8. Psychologicaleffects of interplay

9. Social activism: Making an impact • You have degrees of freedom in the planningand teaching situations. • Find allies- one at a time! • People in academiawill listen to good arguments – writethingsdown. • Make suggestions specific: Do (some of) the workthatneeds to be done! • Grab opportunities • Be patient: Changes do not come from oneday to another.

10. Conflict of interests

11. Teachinginterdisciplinarygroups

12. Turning a ”problem” into an asset • 3 examples: • Course in Science Communication (SCIENCE) • Course in Environmental (LIFE) • Course in EnvironmentalEthics(DTU) • Giving up the teachers ”monopoly” onwhat is going to happen in the teaching. Student contributions and capabilities matter!

14. Problems in mathematicsclasseswith ”boring proofs” etc. • First of all weneed to distinguishdifferentdidactic situations! • If students arethere to studymathematics as a disciplinetheywill have to understand proofs, model theory etc. – and theywilllearn to appreciateit(otherwisetheyshouldperhaps not studymathematics…) • It students aretherebecausetheyneedmathematicscourses to beable to applysomematematics in othersciences, youshouldconsideriftheyneed the proofs at all (examples of applicationwouldbe more relevant) • 2. If the proof is essential for yourdidactic situation, try and addsomeother elements to it (to make it significant, relevant and intuitive): • History of science: Howwas the proofdiscovered? • Does the proofillustratesome generalmethodor procedure in mathematicsthatwealsolearnabout (besides the particularproof)? • Is it possible (beforegiving the actualproof) to make the content of the proof (what the proof is ”about”) intuitivelyunderstandable, i.e. do we have reasons to believe in thisparticularcontent (otherthan the proof)? • If it is a long complicatedproof, youshouldtry to provide a logicaloutline, in order for students to understand the steps involved, and ”whereyouare” in the proof at any given moment…

16. How to handle ”difficult students” (illprepared, disruptive etc.) • First of all youwillknow from thiscoursethatyoushouldsee ”difficult students” as a symptom (sign of) of underlying problems of a structural kind, i.e. • Students mightbeillpreparedbecausethey have to muchwork (e.g. in otherclasses) • Students mightbenoisy, disruptive, comelate to class etc.becausetheyare not motivated, involved and made responsible for activities in class • Students mightbeunfocussedonteachingbecausethey do not understand how the course is relevant withintheireducation as a whole • Students might, of course, alsoengage in behavior/activities in classthatyou find unacceptableorout-of-place(in which case youwill have to tellthem!!) • 2. Manyproblems canberesolvedor at leastclarifiedthrough the initial ”didacticcontract”, i.e. howyouframeteaching and learningactivitieswithin the course as a mutualresponsibility, how it is relevant, howyouestablish a dialoguewithyour students etc.

17. Large classteaching • Teaching Large classes by Graham Gibbs • http://learningandteaching.dal.ca/reso.html