This morning flagamuffin (FM) sent this in repsonse to a discussion here :
- If you have any more thoughts on the differences between book learning and class learning, I'm all ears.
The Difference Between Book Learning and Class Learning if You Have a Good Teacher
1. a good teacher will answer questions even by email if class time is tight - because your questions are the most important thing to a good teacher.
2. a good teacher will give you a sense of the importance and passion of words, emphasize the "money" words in a text. Words that are just lines on paper come to life and dance with a good teacher
3. a good teacher will see in you skills and imagination that you do not yet see in yourself and speak to those parts of you.
4. you will fall in love, so to speak, with a good teacher and want to please him or her -- thus doing more than you would do for a good book
FM - I can write 100 more ways that class learning is better than book learning. Perhaps thenewgreen will add a few when he gets back - but I'll pass this over to the community for the moment. I really have to run.
Unfortunately, what are the chances that you get a good teacher? 1 in 5? 1 in 10? or perhaps you need to be an engaged student to notice a good teacher. I don't know.
I do know this:
If a teacher that doesn't make you sit on the edge of your seat, inspire you, and grow you - book learning is probably better.
Just received the following correspondence from the most influential teacher I ever had. Happy Birthday! Hope you’re doing well. I’m guessing your life is busy and interesting! But if you’re 36 today, then that means I’ve known you at least half of your life. Now that seems impossible! Mike Lets see a book remember my birthday :-) The man continues to teach me, that is what great teachers do. Their job doesn't stop when the semester ends, it's a life pursuit.Steve!
Haha, I was in love with the choir teacher when I was 11 so I joined running club, because she was the sponsor. I hate running more than any other form of exercise. Ah, the power of a good teacher. More seriously, though, I think that you highlight why so many students are disillusioned with college: they have no idea if they have a good teacher, because their class size can be upwards of 500. What is the difference between an online class and a giant lecture hall? Pretty much trivial, IMO. It sucks to have your tuition raised, and see class sizes constantly expanded. At the upper undergrad and graduate level this isn't the case, but for those first two years (in the US; I have no idea what Canada is like; perhaps you can enlighten us) you may only have small group discussions with grad assistants. Even great ones aren't a substitute for professors.4. you will fall in love, so to speak, with a good teacher and want to please him or her -- thus doing more than you would do for a good book
These are great, especially #4. I've experienced that multiple times. Here are some pros of book learning to counterbalance. 1. Mostly free (!) 2. You know what you're going to get, and if you don't get what you want, there's no sunk cost. 3. A thousand times more convenient. 4. Some people, and I am one of them, like to learn from books for the pacing. I can breeze through what I consider fluff and reread the vital parts 20 times. (This ties into your #2 -- if you have trouble telling which parts are fluff and which are important ... take a class.) 5. There's no chance of inaccessibility, or of having an incompatible personality with your professor. 6. Your goals are your own. Thoughts?
I've been extremely fortunate in that all of my professors (with the exception of one) have been truly engaged compassionate people. I don't' think I would have received the same education from pieces of paper.
At a liberal arts school, I have to take as many credits outside my major as I do inside.
I would counter that at a liberal arts school, you are more likely to get great professors. I think a big part of the decline in higher education is that the preeminent universities have become primarily research institutions -- hopefully less of a problem at a small, artsy school.
That's probably true. I was just thinking about this during my shower this morning. Larger schools seem to be all about partying and a large classroom consisting of at least 100 students isn't unheard of. The largest class size I've ever had was about 60, and that was broken up in half during the labs. Maybe with what you were talking about here is only applicable at a larger school?
It just depends entirely on situation, I think. Yeah, that's far more applicable to large schools (I had two lectures this spring that maxed at 475 -- disillusioning). But I can't help but wonder if higher education at small liberal arts schools is also a bit anachronistic (the old what can you do with a philosophy degree stereotype). A lot (though not yours) of liberal arts degrees come down to reading and writing about a subject. I wouldn't want to look at my $150000 bill at the end of four years and think, I paid them to tell me what to read. Obviously that's a generalization and many of lil's points hold much truer at small schools -- which possibly outweighs the "why am I getting a degree in this" factor.
Importance of a teacher: as a judge of the student's character or knowledge, they have a larger perspective to sum you up, so to speak. A book is a one-way street of knowledge, a teacher constantly reevaluates. Importance of a book: a book obliterates time and space.
I would add to this, that books are very, very good for some things and not for others. For example, a book might be great for procedural things where the steps must be followed to the letter. However, what a book can't do is adapt to a student. On the other hand, a good teacher should, yes, answer questions, but also know the student well enough to understand when an answer should be provided or the student needs to be pointed in the direction of the answer. A good teacher is also a good guide. Furthermore, what a teacher can do that a book can't, is feel out how support and guide a student in such a way that they are able to see things from a different or new perspective. Books may accomplish this, but usually it's incidental. A book is great for seeing things from an author's perspective. If you're in university, try to check professors out. See how they work a room. See how they interact with large groups vs. small groups or individuals. Many professors become professors before they have any teaching experience. Most are there as educators, yes, but of their subject and that subject alone, though it may encompass several courses. Often, their primary goals as set forth by the university may not be the educational side, but the research side.