Today a student brought up in class that we should not read the text book next year. She felt that the textbook was complicated, confused her (and other classmates). Her thoughts were that if we did not read the textbook that we could spend more time at home doing practice problems which would allow us to practice and apply what we learned.
This is something that I have tossed around in my mind many times this year. What I worry about is that students will not do the problems if they do not have a grade attached or will copy the problems if they do have a grade attached. Also if we moved away from the text I could do more in class assessments but less formal quizzes. Another negative is that I think it is beneficial to read a difficult college text as to me one of the main proponents of an AP class is to prepare you for college.
Now I thought what we could do instead of reading is have small video clips of each major concept that is covered in a chapter. Students would be required to watch those clips and do problems at home that demonstrate that they have mastered the knowledge. We can then extend the conversation in class and help clarify all the problems. Now the truth is that I can do the same as above with the reading
So as you can tell, I am conflicted in the search for what is best for students. I would like to hear your thoughts about what is best not easiest.
For me personally, I read the book and take my notes but then never look at them again. I only study from the papers we record on in class. However, the book can be helpful before a class. If I read the book and take notes before we go over a concept in class I can normally follow the class discussion and have a better idea of how subjects connect. I think that giving students the book and having them read is beneficial however the video clips seem like a good idea
ReplyDeleteI would rather take notes than have problems to do every night. You can split up the reading according to the amount of time you have each night and you can take the amount of notes that you feel you need. If you read the book carefully and spend a lot of time on it, it's usually not confusing. Notes are definitely going to be necessary in college classes, so why not make them part of the curriculum now. (Practice problems usually won't be a collected homework assignment in college lectures and classes). Not sure if that all makes sense, but that's how I see it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for you feedback, college teachers will often assign practice problems in which you can do outside class with a group of students to help study for exams. Now I can also do practice problems for students which are optional if you want to enhance your knowledge and mastery of the subject
ReplyDeleteI definitely do not think that you should cut the text book out of the curriculum. As you have said, learning to teach yourself is the most important lesson that someone can learn in college. While learning by reading a textbook is generally harder for students than being spoon fed concepts via lecture, it is an important skill that will resonate much longer than the concepts themselves. In college several times I have had to either teach myself everything through textbooks or by reading academic essays. Reading a textbook is hard for a reason--it is a skill that we have unfortunately not really fostered in most students. While it is great that some teachers at Dulaney prepare students so well for exams by giving great lectures and showing students exactly what they need to know for the AP exam, learning to sift through information and find the important concepts is an important life skill and probably a more important one than memorizing the Louis XIV was the sun king or that MR=D in a perfectly price discriminating market.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments it is even more important from you a person with college experience. I am glad that you remembered MR=D but you did forget the rest of his name AR=P. I continue to hear from alumni that reading the text is extremely important, thanks for taking the time to respond.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the book reading is very useful. For me, what usually happens is that I read the book on the weekends after being exposed to the new material all week. In this way, anything that I was at all unsure about is tied together and connected in my mind. The book also does a really good job with listing things in a very organized and orderly manner that I find helpful to go through step by step. I think that the book reading is definitely necessary for the majority of students and very helpful too.
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