Groupthink
The New Yorker Magazine (30 Jan 2012) has an article about groups of people working on projects. 
The research shows that brainstorming isn’t as effective as people working alone, but interdisciplinary groups of people who share ideas and criticize each other works the best of all. “Criticism allows people to dig below the surface of the imagination and come up with collective ideas that aren’t predictable.”
Physical proximity of group members also results in higher quality results. See the full article here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/30/120130fa_fact_lehrer?currentPage=all
SENCER Project – Science + Civic Engagement
The National Center for Science and Civic Engagement invites participation by educators, administrators, and students who believe they can benefit by learning about the SENCER approach and from involvement in the SENCER community. They welcome teams in varying stages of planning, Continue reading
Upcoming Events: AHRD Conference
Jane Ostrander, Truckee Meadows Community College, and Rosemary Closson, University of South Florida, will be facilitating Innovation Session 9: Instructional Strategies for Fostering Professional Skills with Problem-Based Learning at the 2012 Academy Of Human Resource Development (AHRD) Research Conference in the Americas on Saturday, March 3rd at 8:30-10:00 am. AHRD is a global organization of over 500 members, made up of, governed by, and created for the Human Resource Development (HRD) scholarly community of scholars and scholar practitioners.
NPR joins the call to end lectures
On New Years Day, “All Things Considered” broadcast a story about what works and what doesn’t when teaching physics. Lecture seems to work for only about 10 percent of the students. Further “these 10 percent are the students that would learn it even without the instructor.”
The story states what may seem obvious: “listening to someone talk is not an effective way to learn any subject.”
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/01/144550920/physicists-seek-to-lose-the-lecture-as-teaching-tool
Comments