This semester I gave some intermediate students a survey the first day, asking what their backgrounds and interests in the field were and what they saw as their current pedagogical needs in this subject. The results were very revealing.
What they (mostly) dislike in terms of pedagogy:
1. Group work. They say, “Professors believe group work is helpful and engaging. But I am always the only one in the group who cares about doing well, so being in a group drags me down. I therefore prefer to work alone.”
2. “Hands on” projects in class. They say, “Professors believe that students find practical, in class projects useful. I find them to be busy work, or work best undertaken at home. In class, I want explanations, not practice.” Note: at the same school, classes where everyone is a major or minor, or where everyone is an upperclassperson, do not feel the same way.
The most interesting positive comment:
“Professors believe they should refer to other scholars, present two opposing points of view, and keep quiet about their own inclinations. But I am at a university, not a junior college, because I want to be taught by people who have their own point of view and a basis for it, and are not afraid to explain it. I want to know what you think about this subject.”
I was fascinated to find that they were so … research oriented, already. I thought, it is going to be a good semester. It almost is.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
That positive comment has a lot of resonance with me. Learning science is not just about knowing fact after fact, but questioning the current paradigm. I openly tell students what current thinking I believe is flawed, and where new research is needed.
this semester I am trying an experiment. I had students write a draft, revise it and turn it in. I gave them feedback but did not mark their copy; instead I gave them handouts and reviewed in class how to correct their own work for their basic language errors. Then they were to revise again. When I came to class today they were unhappy; I explained that they had been give clear instructions on how to edit and catch most of their mistakes, but that I was not going to edit for them. this is to get their attention, because when I mark up their copy they fix things, then do them again the same way the next time.
Joanna – Hah! It’s a great idea but when I did it here I got accused of “refusing to teach!” (I *so* need to take those courses in the Education department on how to teach basic reading and writing, and I am *so* not interested in that.)
Hi Keith! Good for you! 🙂
Well, they were not happy, and I suspect I will be accused of being lazy or some such thing. Our entire teaching faculty (profs, TAs, ed. specs, etc) met to talk about teaching with writing with our fabulous writing center person because we have a grant for an 18-month project to work together on this. It gave me the courage to try this new approach, because the old one was both time-consuming and manifestly NOT WORKING.
In the old one, you end up writing their paper for them, basically. That is why I do not believe in the multiple drafts theory – even though it helps prevent plagiarism and so on – unless they learn to edit themselves, and your way is a way to get them to do it.
The grant and fabulous writing center person sound great!
I don’t know how to edit myself. I mean, I can do the basic copy editing sort of thing: fix grammar and typos and so on.
But my initial drafts always come out looking quite good. So I don’t know how to edit them and make them better. I wouldn’t even know how to begin. How do people learn this if nobody teaches them?
Momo’s program is about how to teach people to do this.