Teaching Using Small Group Activities: Assessment of a 10 year Experiment
Submitted By: psmith
Lead Presenter: Peter Smith
Scheduled For: Tuesday @ 09:00 AM in Water Oaks III
Session Type: Session - Presentation (includes keynote & business mtg)
Preferred Paper Track: Regular (non peer-reviewed) Paper Track
Target Audience: teachers in any discipline
Lead Presenter: Peter Smith
Scheduled For: Tuesday @ 09:00 AM in Water Oaks III
Session Type: Session - Presentation (includes keynote & business mtg)
Preferred Paper Track: Regular (non peer-reviewed) Paper Track
Target Audience: teachers in any discipline
Abstract:
In 1992, I began teaching all my math and computer science courses by having students read the material before class and engaging them in enrichment activities in small groups during class. I continued with this "guide on the side, not sage on the stage" process until I retired in 2002. In this paper I will describe my experience and assess its effectiveness against my teaching over the preceding 30 years. The paper will include explanations of how to engage in this type of teaching and references for those who wish to try it out. The presentation will model this teaching philosophy, so those who plan to attend should have read the paper in the proceedings before the session.
Peter has been the Public Relations Director for ASCUE since 1995. He retired from Saint Mary's College in 2002, where he taught math and computer science for over 30 years. He has presented a number of papers at previous ASCUE conferences. He is the Treasurer of the Academy of Process Educators, an organization of teachers dedicated to facilitating student growth.
