I was planning to make this weekend's movie Hukkle after readings Jack's recommendation, however it seems my Blockbuster didn't have it. Instead i picked up Saving Face, which i had heard about from watching the trailers on last week's DVD. The writer/director Alice Wu describes it as "a Chinese-American lesbian romantic comedy of manners that's half in Mandarin chinese." Since i seem to enjoy posting dialogue lately, i'll continue to do the same. Here's a brief exchange between Wil who is still "in the closet" with her family and her girlfriend Vivian.
In another scene, Wil, who is a doctor, is recruiting the help of her coworkers to find her mother a husband.
I caught this amusing bit of dialogue on an episode of Everwood between Bright and his girlfriend Hannah. It went somthing like this:
A few weeks back i purchased a meat thermometer and it has quickly become one of my favorite possessions. Not only can i now confidently cook chicken without fear of killing myself, but also i now know the temperature inside of my freezer, how hot my toast gets, and the perfect temperate to drink my hot chocolate.
I think someone should make a chemistry textbook that exclusively uses the science of cooking to bring the world of atoms to life. If you've ever watched Alton Brown's Good Eats, you know this isn't much of a stretch. Learning about any subject is more interesting when you can see how it effects your daily life.
The disconnect between the real world and the classroom was discussed in an article i read for my writing class called Teaching modelling as an alternative approach to school mathematics by Tomoko Yanagimoto. The article points out that the math currently taught in classrooms was all solved hundreds of years ago and there's never a sense of excitement or discovery in its presentation. The truth is that there is a lot still be discovered about math. Additionally, the impression that, in math, there is only one correct answer is the wrong message to send to students. He (or she, i'm not sure) argued for dumping calculus and the like for fuzzy modeling. As it's name implies, fuzzy modeling tries to describe a system mathematically but leaves room for different interpretations. Teaching a math class that doesn't cover current areas of innovation is like covering the history of the United States but stopping at 1900.
Whether it's in math, chemistry, or some other class, the idea of motivating students by presenting information they can apply in their own lives is very interesting. Finding a way to get students to do homework, not because it was assigned, but because they actually want to learn is a worth while task.
I rented Me And You And Everyone We Know this weekend. It has one of my favorite scenes in a movie featuring a goldfish and also the following humorous exchange:
Originally i had wanted to see this film at the UICA but i ran out of time. I really need to get down there more. They do a nice job of showing more independent or limited release pictures. I don't see a whole lot of movies but when i do, i at least want them to be interesting.
My sick monitor has begun presenting further symptoms. Not only is everything yellow, but how the picture undulates. When i turn it on, the image pulls, stretches, and squeezes before finally standing still. Additionally, every time i switch windows, the whole thing shudders as though i've upset the space-time continuum. As far as i'm concerned this is not a positive development.
When the internet was a buzz last week with speculation on what the Apple special media event would bring, there was talk of new Power Macs which got me excited. It turned out to be iPods, iMacs, and a new ITunes. I was a bit disappointed. However, then they announced another special event this week. That event happened today and they announced new PowerBooks, Power Macs, Aperture (an application for professional digital photographers), and yet another new version of iTunes. Ok, kidding about the last one, but i was happy to see the new desktop machines and figured i should probably get one to replace my now six year old computer. It's kind of pricey but considering now long a computer lasts me and the fact that this will probably be the last in a long line of PowerPC towers that Apple will release, i think it's worth it. Now i just need to work up the never to press the "buy now" button.
I left work starving but i had to go directly to class. It turns out that we would be watching a video today in class all about food production -- how cruel. I sat there and watched third-world peasants enjoying delicious beans and corn fresh from outside their front door as my tummy growled. As they munched their fruit, beads of juice flew toward the camera. Dirty faces masked their delight. I suffered though the hour and a half fast. Those lucky poor people don't have to waste their time in school because they can just sell their extra wheat at the market (that is, if they don't eat it all themselves). Should i feel sorry for them? I don't think so. I'm sorry that i didn't have a Snickers on me.
Occasionally in my academic career, i've encountered a teacher who i thought was lousy. I wasn't, however, consciously aware of the criteria i was using to make this determination. Perhaps the professor simply used a teaching method incompatible with my learning style and other people might have thought that he was wonderful. I began to wonder if there was a widely accepted definition of what makes a good teacher. That way, if i thought a teacher was bad, i would have at least some data to back up my claim.
My curiosity lead me to a book called What The Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain. In it, he explores the results of his study which sought to catalog traits common to the "best" teachers across the disciplines. First, that involved defining what exactly makes a great teacher. In his opinion, the best teachers fundamentally changed the way students thought about a particular discipline. The best teachers inspired lasting curiosity and new ways of thought. Success wasn't about test grades; it was about deep learning.
The book makes it clear that there is no one best way to teach a class. Different teachers can use different methods with equal success. However, there were some themes that did seem to be universal among the teachers in the study. For example, the best teacher always made sure the material they were covering were relevant to their students' lives. In a specific anecdote, Bain tells of mathematics teacher Donald Saari and his "WGAD" principle which states that at any point during the course his students can ask "who gives a damn" and he can always tell them why it's important. If it's not relevant, why put it on your syllabus? Along the same theme, the best teachers also typically use cumulative exams. The information learned doesn't become less important after you take a test on it. Additionally, the best teacher use grades as a way to help the student realizes what they don't yet know. After an assignment is graded and returned, the student should have the opportunity to learn the parts that they got wrong and resubmit the assignment. This way, the focus is on really learning the material not just getting a good grade. I was pleased to realize that many of these qualities i had come to realize on my own, perhaps as a result of my greater-than-average number of years in school.
I was especially interested in how all of this applies to mathematics. Often people assume that math is completely different from all other disciplines, and i think that's unfair. I think some of the blame for that falls on teachers. Math is never about solving for x. It's about finding the number of people an elevator can hold, determining how fast a machine can produce bolts, or minimizing wasted wood in a construction project. Math shouldn't be about memorizing the quadratic equations, it;s about thinking like a mathematician by using numbers to solve real world problems. All branches of math are connected to the experiences of everyday life.
I liked many of the ideas of the book but i am concerned with how they would apply to all situations. For example, when classes are customized to a particular group of students, one might not cover the same material from semester to semester. This may cause a problem when enrolling in a class like Calc 2 taught by a different instructor. How can a smooth transition be guaranteed. Also, the book specifically covered college teachers and the ideas might not transfer well to high school teaching as well. That's because the book stresses being honest with the students about the amount of work involved and if they are not willing to put forth the effort, then they should drop the class. High school students seem to have less freedom to make such decisions. Finally, the book seemed to assume that professors sole purpose is to teach. From what i understand, they are also expected to do research and, in some cases, secure grants for the university. The last chapter does touch in this, but i still wonder how those two obligations can be balanced. As Bain noted, the best scholars in a discipline don't necessarily make the best teachers.
As you can probably tell, this is something i'm interested in and plan to learn more about. I'll keep you posted.
I seem to have the worst luck with computer monitors. The replacement i've been using since my last one started to spark is now making everything yellow. It's a really ugly yellow too. Unfortunately for me, i had a lot of school work that i needed to do in a computer. Instead of suffering with shades of saffron, i went down to the GVSU computer lab.
I've never really spent much time in the school lab. There were a handful of other students there this Saturday afternoon. It was nice and quiet and i got quite a bit of work done. I guess i never realized how easy it is for me to become distracted when working from home. It was also convenient because we have to do most of our Calc 3 project using Maple. To purchase a copy of my own i'd have to pay a hundred bucks, and i really hate the program to the idea of spending money on it just makes me sick. Perhaps i should do more of my work there.