Monday, November 9, 2009

Do any of you watch these sort of things?

You probably have to be on the campus network to access this link.

4 comments:

  1. I utilized MIT's OpenCourseWare system when I took a neurobiology class last Fall. The class was difficult and while I did everything the professor recommended (reading the textbook, reviewing lecture slides, forming study groups, etc), I still wasn't grasping the material. I had heard of MIT's system so I went online and found the materials used in their Intro to Neurobiology course. I began watching their lectures, using their lecture slides, and studying with their practice exams. I found their materials to be extremely straightforward and clear, and my understanding (and my grade..) increased after utilizing them. -RI

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  2. Given your response, I'm trying to think through the feedback loop from the MIT content to how the course is taught here. Were there topics in the course your took, not in the MIT offering? And did you benefit from having two distinct presentations of the subject, or might you have done fine with just the MIT materials.

    If this is mostly a matter of teaching style, with straightforward and simple dominating obtuse and complex, perhaps our faculty will have to improve their performance or risk having their teaching efforts appear redundant.

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  3. Um, I will now!

    Actually, I use powerpoints from other professors a lot. Sometimes it's either more informative, more precise, or simply explained in a manner that is clearer than my professor's. Also, some professors are all over the place when they lecture, and it is helpful to see all the facts in one place (other than my notes, which follow the professor's all-over-the-place style and arae therefore unclear).

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  4. There may be less of this sort of stuff for Business School curricula. I know we're fairly protective of the lecture capture we do in the College. But perhaps this will change as views about learning change too.

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