In today’s class, we talked a lot about different styles of learning in the classroom.
Ever since I was in grade school in Hawaii, the majority of subjects were taught under discussion based and active learning styles. In other words, we didn’t just sit and listen to a teacher talk for 50 minutes. We also had group discussions, presentations, and actual learning activities and experiments. I honestly thought this was a very good way to learn. It kept the classes interesting.
The only class I struggled in was math. Why? I think it is because math is pretty much a straight lecture class, and there is really only one correct answer. Also if you make one tiny mistake in any part of the equation, your whole answer will be wrong. But I digress.
According to my students today, both people have had decades of experience in teaching their subjects to high school students. And they were talking about how recently Japan has been trying to get away from their traditional lecture style teaching. In other words, where the students just sit and listen to the teacher talk for an hour.
In Japan it is standard. In the USA it would be considered very boring.
How about you? What are your thoughts?
Which would you prefer in the classroom?
A straight lecture?
Or some interaction, opinion giving discussions and group work in a class?
And why???
