Lecture halls are largely ineffective learning environments for most people, typically those who lack metacognitive abilities. Students without the ability to self-regulate and monitor their understanding become lost in the large crowd of a lecture hall. With such a high student-teacher ratio, these students who are unable to fend for themselves cannot excel in this environment without extra, specialized help which most teachers don’t have the time to give. Lecture halls are effective learning environments for some people though, and if more students possessed strong metacognitive abilities, lecture halls could become more successful.
I attended Pinewood, a small private school, from Kindergarten through eighth grade, which is largely responsible for my success in college. With such small class sizes, 40 kids per grade, each student had the opportunity for more individualized help, assessment, and general “bonding” time with their teachers. Teachers could then more thoroughly assess each individual student’s understanding and strategically enable students to monitor their own weaknesses and strengths. Classes usually had a small amount of traditional didactic lecture, and then teachers would walk around as students did their assignment, visiting with each student to monitor their progress and offer them advice. Since the class was so small, this enabled the teacher to actually evaluate and converse with the student and offer them personalized help; and not just “pass by” to see if they were accomplishing their work. Additionally, there was a lot of collective discussion, small group discussion, and reciprocal teaching, where students could formulate opinions, and share their knowledge and strategies among peers.
Hoffman 2
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...ly as possible, so that they can benefit from it throughout their career. The traditional, didactic, large lecture hall is not a very malleable method of learning and does not necessarily cater to different types of learners. However, the likelihood that lecture hall will cease to exist is very slim. Students need to learn how to monitor their understanding and accept responsibility for what they know and don’t know. Teachers, especially when overwhelmed in a large classroom, cannot possibly take responsibility for monitoring all of the students. Therefore, students should develop self-assessment skills so that they don’t always have to solely rely on teachers. The invaluable life-long skill that is metacognition undoubtedly deserves to be taught to children in elementary school, as it will most certainly ease their educational transition into academia.
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In her article, “Lecture Me. Really”, Molly Worthen addresses the issue college students know all too well: how to lecture properly. Published in the New York Times, Worthen writes a passionate article about lecturing but from the perspective of a professor. Worthen presents the idea that lecturing, although some may think ineffective in the classroom, is a way to truly challenge and engage students into critically thinking. Worth dictates this idea with an excellent build up logical argument but lacks the proper evidence to support her claims creating a faulty argument.
In the article Should Colleges Really Eliminate the College Lecture? by Christine Gross-Loh, Loh discusses the relevance of traditional college lectures and how it could become obsolete in the near future. She explains how a “flipped classroom” could be more beneficial in terms of academics and show improvements in students learning abilities.
“Mark, you won’t get anywhere without studying”, His mother use to tell him when he use to waist all his time playing rather that studying. Mark wasn’t such a good student because he wouldn’t spend any time studying, until one day his parents decided to send him to Cushing Academy, a boarding school in the USA, which they knew it was going to improve his study habits and help him being more responsible. But what really amazed his parents was this period of time used to study called “Study Hall”. Because of its amazing results, preparation for college, and providing responsibility, Study Hall remains as one of the vital qualities Cushing Academy possess and give students an opportunity to lead in higher education.
After questioning teachers whom have taught within larger classroom sizes and then transitioning to smaller sizes, they mentioned only great things about it all. “The findings from this research show that although class size is not the only factor influencing teaching, teachers in large classes believe that class size is a major aspect that impacts on the different teaching methods adopted.” (Almulla). Not every student is built the same way, they have different cultures and support. Some may lack language skills, communication skills or just simply learning skills. “According to Farrant’s (2000) documentation, in a crowded class, there are little participation per pupil supports the foregoing viewpoint.” (Kewaza). Smaller classes allow for the teacher to capitalize on the opportunities presented to them by each student and develop a variety of teaching strategies for each
...ned. A group study published by the Teachers College Record Journal compares high school students who attended small classes to those who did not. The results reveal that students who participated in smaller classes were “2.5 months ahead in all school subjects, and as much as five months ahead in some, compared to their counterparts who attended regular classes” (Finn et al. 168). Similar research supports that idea that small classes produce even greater long-term benefits when class-size reduction is extended for additional years during primary education. Longitudinal studies reveal that a longer duration in small class primary education equates to more considerable, enduring benefits in secondary education (Finn et al. 166). The seemingly short-term participation in class-size reduction enhances a student’s entire academic career and chance for achievement.
From the time students begin schooling in Pre-K to the time they are eight years old in the third grade, they are very moldable and the research has proven that this is a good focus point for class size reduction. The Steps to Achieving Resilience (STAR) was based around second and third graders, some were placed randomly in smaller classes and at the end of the year they all took the same standardized test. The students in the smaller classes had scores that were notably higher than those in normal classes (Adams). This allowed the students in the smaller classes to have more one-on-one time which could have contributed to their heightened scores. The more one-on-one time a stude...
Up until the fifth grade, I attended private school with about 15-20 students in my class; from the fifth grade on, I attended public school with about 30-35 students in each of my classes. This high number of students in my public school classrooms had a negative effect on my learning experience. One of the negative effects of having so many students was that my teachers were unable to know me as an individual.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Classes are so large there is no room or time for students and teachers to personally connect. A teacher is teaching five, six or even seven periods a day with up to forty students in a class. Teachers are taught to talk to students and to identify when there is something wrong, such as a bad home situation or problems with school, but how can they identify situations when they are teaching anywhere from 200 to 300 students in any given day. “[Because] High schools...[have become] like factories and...[not] like learning communities”(Lachat 5). If schools were more like learning communities less students would have to dropout of school because of “Adult responsibilities...such as becoming a parent, getting married, or holding down a job” (Center for Public Education) and less likely to experience “[bad] Educational experiences... [such as] Low grades, low test scores, Fs in English or math, falling behind in course credits, and being retained... high rates of absenteeism or truancy, poor classroom behavior, less participation in extracurricular activities, and bad relationships with teachers and peers” (Center for Public Education). The benefits of decreasing dropouts are astronomical from tax revenues to crime reduction and unemployment rates (Center for Public Education). “Dropouts [can] cost the nation $200 - $300 billion annually in lost wages and taxes, as well as criminal justice and social service costs… California noted that high school dropouts, who are unable to access jobs in the increasingly high-tech economy, cost the state $1.1 billion annually in costs of juvenile crime
Students are in school to learn. To learn, we need willingness, interest, and excitement from both pupil and teacher. With fewer students in a class, education can become a whole lot more personal—which is good. Rebecca Meleski, a student at Cardinal Stritch University, states that she loves the small classes because it's "More engaging. Everyone can have a closer relationship with the teacher. We can get our questions answered and have the time to discuss more complicated topics". When there are fifteen or so people in a class, teachers have ample time to answer questions and give help.
As a teacher, I have numerous personal goals. Mainly, my goal is to provide students with the opportunity and encouragement to succeed in life and to develop as free-thinking individuals in society. I consider myself a progressive and an essentialist, according to theory. I feel that students need to be given multiple opportunities to explore many different life skills that sometimes are overlooked in the education system. Testing, rote memorization, and lecture, in my opinion, do not promote students' own inquiry and does not give students opportunities to tap into their own source of knowledge that they each bring with them to the classroom. As a teacher, I hope to leave my students able to set and accomplish goals through the use of these life skills. Some teachers I have had while in hi...
Class size makes a huge impact on how the student learns. Along with many other things, there is more to the amount of kids in class than most people think. The quality one on one time is affected. Along with that, important questions that the students needs clarity on from the teacher might not be able to be answered because so many other students are in the room asking their own question. Students learn in their own ways. Teachers have to be flexible to how their students learn and in order to do that they need to know their students on a personal level. When class sizes are large, it effects students in negative ways in their learning.
Unfortunately there are no quick fixes for the problems that plague the modern classrooms; there are only stopgaps and remedies which may be helpful in mitigating the problem until a more permanent solution is attained. These remedies constitute my personal teaching philosophy. One of these remedies involves instructing the students in the act of metacognition, st...
Education is an ever-changing part of society. A classroom teacher is faced with new challenges and obstacles that have never been dealt with before. Students come to the classroom with different life stories. Every student has strengths and weaknesses that surface in the classroom environment. Teachers must understand and focus on utilizing each student's strengths and work to improve weaknesses. Students learn in a variety of ways. The classroom must be a safe zone that appreciates student's viewpoints and allows room for mistakes. When topics in the classroom are related to "real-life" experiences, the information is more likely to be retained. Students learn from one another. The ideas and perspectives that each student brings to the classroom can bring insight into what is being learned. Students have to be allowed to explore new ideas, try them to see if they work, and sometimes fail. When students are encouraged to explore, they begin the process of becoming lifelong learners.
Students need to be inspired to think critically. By this they comprehend what has been learned and be able to use it. I hope my students will be able to achieve their greatest potential that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. We can give our children these building blocks thru education to use in decision making situations, moral value of their thoughts and actions. This will guide them to realize how their actions and decisions will affect themselves and others.
...ges face with attrition, these positive impressions may help decrease drop-out rates.” (Rethinking the Classroom:Spaces Designed for Active Learning and Engaged Learning and Teaching, 2015) The room I was in was large and cold. A college could transform this element by only holding large classes in large rooms and teaching smaller classes in smaller rooms or library rooms.