Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Beginning of the End of Large Lecture Halls?

New York Times article: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard. Wow.

Looking back at it, I think that if I had that sort of environment for learning in college, it would have helped tremendously. I didn't need that sort of environment for basic math, but having it for science and engineering as well as more advanced math classes would have really helped.

At the time, I might have denied that it would help or that I needed that sort of non-traditional environment. I would have been wrong. As I look back, I can see that really engaging with the content more actively would have helped me process it all. Because I was reasonably good at math, I didn't need that sort of help. I was able to process most of the concepts on my own with minimal help or socialization, but even in math, I have my holes. I was able to get by on tests, but I don't get everything the same way I'd like to.

Anyway, I hope this is a trend that keeps developing.

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