Questions 101

Yes, I am still on the questions kick. Thinking about questions got me considering how students need to ask more of them. Learning starts with a question. Learning is prompted by the desire to know something, either out of mere curiosity or because of a need to solve a problem or to improve in some way. Asking questions prompts the search for answers, thus learning something new as answers are discovered.

I normally begin my courses by asking students what questions they have about the subject matter. I want to know what they seek to learn from the course. Other than the usual questions about what is required for a grade and if attendance is mandatory, I typically get no questions about the subject itself. Basically students are expecting to be told whatever I as the instructor think they should know about the subject. What they want to know is how I expect them to dutifully regurgitate back to me what I have told them. That is parroting not learning.

I recognize that students probably are not familiar enough with a particular course subject to know what it is they need to learn. But the lack of questions also indicates a lack of curiosity. What is communicated is that the students come to the course to fulfill a curriculum requirement rather than from a desire to know something. This is not the way to instill a passion for learning.

I experience a natural adrenalin rush from learning. I eagerly scour the bibliographies at the end of books and articles to find additional sources I can pursue. I am always on the lookout for workshops and conferences I can attend. I even look forward to my 65 minute commute to the university I teach at because I am eager to listen to the latest audio learning program I have acquired. By the time I enter my 8 a.m. class I am pumped with ideas and questions, much to the dismay of the sleepy-eyed students in the course. I am eager to know more so I may continue to improve and develop. And the more I learn the more I become aware of how much more I have to learn. That is what is most exciting; the realization that learning is a never-ending lifelong process. And each new challenge initiates a new learning cycle. To take on something new is a joy rather than a burden because it is an opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills.

I want my students to be as nuts about learning as I am. I want them to discover their passion and calling. I am continually discovering connections between my life experiences and my vocation. There is no separation between who I am and what I do. I experience my life as an integrated whole. Work is play. Play contributes to my work. I experience learning holistically. Learning nurtures my body, mind, soul, and spirit. I want to help my students experience the same power from learning that I do.

That power emerges from within. Learning cannot be imposed from without. No one can learn for someone else. We each must learn for ourselves. That process begins with a desire to learn. That desire is ignited by the questions that burn within us.

What may be needed is a freshman course entitled Questions 101. In this course students would discover the role of questions in learning and life. They would study how human progress has been driven by the search for answers to questions. They would be introduced to the art and skill of asking questions. The key outcome of the course would be personalized lists of questions each student seeks to answer during his or her college career. Obviously, questions would continually be added to this list. These questions would give direction and purpose to students’ education beyond the earning of a degree. Faculty and staff would be resources for uncovering answers to students’ questions. Before each course students would be helped to understand how the course relates to their quest for answers to their questions. Presently students do not recognize the relevance of much of what they are required to study in college. If faculty knew the questions driving students’ learning, the faculty could help students realize the relevance of the subject matter being studied.

This then is another one of my questions: How can we as university and college faculty, staff, and administrators instill a passion for learning in students? Perhaps we can’t answer that question until we hear what questions our students seek to answer.

101 Questions

Another question. If everyone thinks of himself or herself as being right, what can be considered as wrong? Facts are disputed, scholars disagree, morals differ. Who is right? Who is wrong? Is there a right and a wrong?

What are the implications of this question to our teaching? We could say our role is to help students come to their own conclusions. What if they come to conclusions different from our own? We could argue that for a conclusion to be valid it must be in agreement with the recognized standards of a discipline. But progress is usually initiated by those who stray outside of the recognized conventions.

I don’t have answers to the questions I pose. Even if I did, would it make any difference? If you agreed with my answers, you would consider me to be right. If you disagreed with me, you would say I was wrong.

There is always “maybe.”

100 Questions

Last September Dropping Knowledge brought together 112 leading thinkers from 56 countries to respond to the top 100 questions posed by individuals from around the globe. The questions and answers are posted on the organization’s website (www.droppingknowledge.org).

What question would you pose? One I have is why do we continue to do what we know does not work? In private conversations, during meetings, at conferences, and in workshops I hear discussed what is wrong with higher education. The literature is full of the same. Yet we continue to perpetuate the very practices about which we complain. How come?

As an example let’s take my pet peeve—grades. I think grades are a key obstacle to learning. Students are obsessed with them. Whoever I speak to—whether student, faculty member, or employer—agrees that grades are a problem. So why do we continue to use grades? I say let’s find better ways to assess learning. The answer I generally receive from those within higher education is that we can’t eliminate grades. Why not? Yes, it means changing the system; not an easy endeavor, but it can be done. It is not that the system cannot be changed; it is that we won’t change it. It is easier and safer to stay with what we know even when it doesn’t work than to exert the effort and take the risk of creating something different.

Why won’t we change what we know doesn’t work? I say the primary reason is fear. Yes, I know all the rationalizations for why changes can’t be made. I heard one speaker say that to rationalize is to perpetuate “rational lies.” Change requires courage, commitment, and community. Change can happen if we work together.

So, what question would you pose to the world?

From Good To Great

During a recent faculty discussion of Ken Bain’s book What The Best College Teachers Do, the question arose of what differentiates good teaching from great teaching. What occurred to me during the discussion is that good teachers have a passion for their subject and employ good teaching techniques. Great teachers, however, go beyond possessing passion for their subject. Great teachers also care passionately about their students. Great teachers are energized by teaching their field of expertise because they understand how that knowledge will serve the students. What drives great teachers is not their passion for their subject but their compassion for their students. Great teachers understand how the knowledge they hold can benefit their students. Students respond to great teachers because the students feel cared about. What moves teachers from being good to being great is moving from caring primarily for the subject to caring more about the students.

What struck me in reading the examples of exceptional teaching described in Bain’s book is that there is no set formula. Different approaches are employed by different teachers with equal success. What really matters, in my view, is the connection between teacher and student. The great teacher answers the key question in students’ minds—“Why do I need to know this?” Great teaching makes the subject matter relevant to students’ lives now and for the future.

Great teaching, then, fulfills the call to serve. It is not an academic discipline or knowledge or truth that we as teachers are called to serve. We serve human beings. If what we teach does not serve who we teach, then it does not matter how good our teaching techniques. It is when our students experience what is in our hearts as well our heads that we will move from good teaching to teaching that is great.

Why Professors Go Mad

After spending days slogging through students’ final course papers, I have come to realize why there are mad professors. I am convinced that reading student essays kills brain cells. And by the time I finish reviewing the papers, final exams will begin. I will then be faced with an infinite stack of blue essay booklets. Now I understand the motivation behind the invention of multiple choice exams.