Your course should be a required one for this reason: to be considered an "educated person" one must learn how to learn.
Not regurgitate facts, but actually learn. After dropping a few $1K at SUNY; that was the most important education I recieved. What was written on the diploma was incidental to the process.
One of the most fun things I did at the U of Hawaii was that I volunteered to create a Graduate Seminar class (pass/fail) for our grad students so the first time they gave a talk at a national or regional meeting, they would not be giving a formal talk for the first time. I ran that class for quite a few years.
Based on American Geophysical Union talks being 15 minutes long, that was the length of their talks. So what they needed to learn was how to convey really important main points in fifteen minutes, and how to set up a slide deck that was complimentary to their speaking rather than causing people to glaze over. Was a hoot of a class. The last few times I taught it, I videotaped the talks and had the presenters critique themselves (in confidence with the instructor).
I imagine giving a "what was the Eureka moment for me" talk in 8 minutes would be a really tight constraint. Sounds like fun!
David - such a wonderfully designed course. I hope the “kids” weren’t hoping for a cupcake of a class!
Haha, thank you! Students only get the cupcake at the end!
Your course should be a required one for this reason: to be considered an "educated person" one must learn how to learn.
Not regurgitate facts, but actually learn. After dropping a few $1K at SUNY; that was the most important education I recieved. What was written on the diploma was incidental to the process.
So do they get the champagne with the cupcake?
One of the most fun things I did at the U of Hawaii was that I volunteered to create a Graduate Seminar class (pass/fail) for our grad students so the first time they gave a talk at a national or regional meeting, they would not be giving a formal talk for the first time. I ran that class for quite a few years.
Based on American Geophysical Union talks being 15 minutes long, that was the length of their talks. So what they needed to learn was how to convey really important main points in fifteen minutes, and how to set up a slide deck that was complimentary to their speaking rather than causing people to glaze over. Was a hoot of a class. The last few times I taught it, I videotaped the talks and had the presenters critique themselves (in confidence with the instructor).
I imagine giving a "what was the Eureka moment for me" talk in 8 minutes would be a really tight constraint. Sounds like fun!
What a wonderful class structure. As always I look forward to reading the various student essays and such. always informative and illuminating.