Letter to the Editor

Often, when I describe the use of an active-learning approach (1–3), my colleagues ask what size class is appropriate for this format. One of us has used this method in a class of over 200 students, but we would use the same format no matter what the class size. We think active learning is better th...

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Autores principales: Elise N. Griswold, Daniel J. Klionsky
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: American Society for Microbiology 2015
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/b6db53df58984d2db14700be47812381
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:b6db53df58984d2db14700be478123812021-11-15T15:04:05ZLetter to the Editor10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.9101935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/b6db53df58984d2db14700be478123812015-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v16i1.910https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Often, when I describe the use of an active-learning approach (1–3), my colleagues ask what size class is appropriate for this format. One of us has used this method in a class of over 200 students, but we would use the same format no matter what the class size. We think active learning is better than lecturing even for very large classes; the details of how the class is run might have to vary (e.g., how groups are formed), but otherwise it would be the same. When thinking about the effectiveness—or lack thereof—of lecturing, especially in a very large class, an anecdote by the late Neil A. Campbell, the author of a very popular introductory biology textbook, comes to mind. To paraphrase, Neil was giving a lecture to a large class and became concerned because no one seemed to be following what he was saying. Then it occurred to him that the problem might be that no one could hear him, as he was not using a microphone. So, he paused, faced the class and asked, “Is there anyone who cannot hear what I am saying?” A young man at the very back of the room stood up and shouted back, “Yeah, I haven’t been able to hear a single thing you’ve said.” At that point, a young woman in the front row stood up, turned around and replied to her classmate, “I’ll trade places with you!”Elise N. GriswoldDaniel J. KlionskyAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 16, Iss 1, Pp 5-5 (2015)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Special aspects of education
LC8-6691
Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
spellingShingle Special aspects of education
LC8-6691
Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
Elise N. Griswold
Daniel J. Klionsky
Letter to the Editor
description Often, when I describe the use of an active-learning approach (1–3), my colleagues ask what size class is appropriate for this format. One of us has used this method in a class of over 200 students, but we would use the same format no matter what the class size. We think active learning is better than lecturing even for very large classes; the details of how the class is run might have to vary (e.g., how groups are formed), but otherwise it would be the same. When thinking about the effectiveness—or lack thereof—of lecturing, especially in a very large class, an anecdote by the late Neil A. Campbell, the author of a very popular introductory biology textbook, comes to mind. To paraphrase, Neil was giving a lecture to a large class and became concerned because no one seemed to be following what he was saying. Then it occurred to him that the problem might be that no one could hear him, as he was not using a microphone. So, he paused, faced the class and asked, “Is there anyone who cannot hear what I am saying?” A young man at the very back of the room stood up and shouted back, “Yeah, I haven’t been able to hear a single thing you’ve said.” At that point, a young woman in the front row stood up, turned around and replied to her classmate, “I’ll trade places with you!”
format article
author Elise N. Griswold
Daniel J. Klionsky
author_facet Elise N. Griswold
Daniel J. Klionsky
author_sort Elise N. Griswold
title Letter to the Editor
title_short Letter to the Editor
title_full Letter to the Editor
title_fullStr Letter to the Editor
title_full_unstemmed Letter to the Editor
title_sort letter to the editor
publisher American Society for Microbiology
publishDate 2015
url https://doaj.org/article/b6db53df58984d2db14700be47812381
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