Math Forum Discussions

Richard Hake

Posts: 1,108
From: Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Registered: 12/4/04

[math-learn] Re: Culture Change for Learning
Posted: Apr 17, 2012 1:02 PM

Plain Text

att1.html (16.7 K)

Some subscribers to Math-Learn might be interested in a recent
discussion-list post "Re: Culture Change for Learning" [Hake (2012)].

Q. Why should Math-Learn, concerned primarily with middle-school
education, be interested in higher education?

A. Because most middle school teachers are products of higher
education. The limited understanding and pedagogical skill of many
teachers often reflects the passive-student-lecture methodology of
higher education.

The abstract reads:

**********************************************
ABSTRACT: Richard P. Keeling and Richard H. Hersh (2012) in their
"Inside Higher Ed" article "Culture Change for Learning" at
<http://bit.ly/Jly6Tj> wrote:

"America faces a crisis in higher learning. Too many college
graduates are not prepared to think critically and creatively, speak
and write cogently and clearly, solve problems, comprehend complex
issues, accept responsibility and accountability, take the
perspective of others, or meet the expectations of employers. . . . .
.The core explanation is this: THE ACADEMY LACKS A SERIOUS CULTURE OF
TEACHING AND LEARNING" [My CAPS]:

For those who may wish to dig deeper I have provided over 30 relevant
academic references with over 60 hot links.
**********************************************

To access the complete 23 kB post please click on <http://bit.ly/HJ2zLf>.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
Links to SDI Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
Academia: <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>
Twitter <https://twitter.com/#!/rrhake>

". . . studies indicate that problem-based discussion, group study,
and other forms of active learning produce greater gains in critical
thinking than lectures, yet the lecture format is still the standard
in most college classes, especially in large universities."
Derek Bok (2005), former president of Harvard University,
in "Are colleges failing? Higher Ed Needs New Lesson Plans"
[Bok (2005)]

"The academic area is one of the most difficult areas to change in
our society. We continue to use the same methods of instruction,
particularly lectures, that have been used for hundreds of years.
Little scientific research is done to test new approaches, and little
systematic attention is given to the development of new methods.
Universities that study many aspects of the world ignore the
educational function in which they are engaging and from which a
large part of their revenues are earned."
Richard M. Cyert, former president of Carnegie Mellon
University, quoted in
Tuma & Reif (1980):

"Few faculty members have any awareness of the expanding knowledge
about learning from psychology and cognitive science. Almost no one
in the academy has mastered or used this knowledge base. One of my
colleagues observed that if doctors used science the way college
teachers do, they would still be trying to heal with leeches."
James Duderstadt (2000), President Emeritus and University
Professor of
Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, in
"A University for
the 21st Century" [Duderstadt (2000)

"We have not been very systematic about our quest to improve
teaching, even though we value it highly and frequently do well at
it. I am struck, for example, by the lack of conversation about what
pedagogy means, and what makes it successful. It is our profession,
yet it is mysteriously absent from our professional discourse. Here
we are, engaged in an activity that is vital to ourselves, our
students, and our public - yet we speak of how to do it, if at all,
as though it had no data base, lacked a history, and offered no
innovative challenges."
Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, in his "Stanford
President's Address: Stanford in Its Second Century" - see
also "Academic
Duty" [Kennedy (1999)].

REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on
17 April 2012.]

Bok, D. 2005. "Are colleges failing? Higher Ed Needs New Lesson
Plans," Boston Globe, 18 December, copied into the APPENDIX of Hake
(2005).

Duderstadt, J.J. 2000. "A University for the 21st Century." Univ. of
Michigan Press. publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/cvJ1yI>.
Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/lxT8YU>, note the
searchable "Look Inside" feature

Hake, R.R. 2005. "Are colleges failing?" AERA-L post of 19 Dec 2005
17:54:37-0800; online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/erBRGN>. The APPENDIX contains a copy of Bok (2005).

Hake, R.R. 2012. ""Re: Culture Change for Learning," online on the
OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/HJ2zLf>. Post of 16 Apr 2012
14:21:25-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the
complete post are also being transmitted to several discussion lists
and are on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/IurB23> with a
provision for comments.

Kennedy, D. 1999. "Academic Duty." Harvard University Press,
publisher's information at <http://bit.ly/edBogg>. Amazon.com
information at <http://amzn.to/hbeAsp>, note the "Look Inside"
feature. An expurgated Google book preview is online at
<http://bit.ly/hmuC5R>.

Tuma, D.T. & F. Reif, eds. 1980. "Problem Solving and Education:
Issues in Teaching and Research," Lawrence Erlbaum. Amazon.com
information at <http://amzn.to/jcAK2d>.

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