And, in a virtual age, what is the point of a physical school?
Answer: there is no point.
At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
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Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#12"As each semester progressed, attendance in [the professor's] introductory physics courses fell to 50 percent, as it did, he said, for nearly all of his colleagues...'I had poor attendance, and was failing 10 to 15 percent'" So, 50 percent of the students aren't coming to class, and they're only failing 10-15 percent? It sounds like the tests are too easy. If the tests were more demanding, more students would come to…
While I can see where you're coming from, a few other factors need to be taken into consideration.
One of MIT's greatest strengths (and arguably weaknesses) is the sheer "atmosphere" of working on your classes. The line between directly school-related stuff and other stuff is very blurred. While of course it's true that homework and tests impact the lives of students at any and every school, I think it's fair to say MIT takes it to another level. And not just with direct things like giving lots of homework and tests - I often felt like it was easier to find an Athena cluster (what MIT computer labs are called) than a drinking fountain or a snack machine. Because of this atmosphere, the emphasis on necessarily attending lecture is lessened, as there is more of a "continuous" feel to each class, which might include going to lecture, recitation (which is often much more valuable than lecture but doesn't get included in the "50 percent" quote from the article), study groups, office hours, and more. Now, does this devolve into problem set copying for some students? Definitely. But overall the atmosphere was definitely there. Because of this, it's misleading to focus on a number like "50% of students aren't coming to class", as attending lecture is just one part of the equation.
I should add as a disclaimer that I never took a TEAL class at MIT, or even a physics class (something I regret). So, while I have perspective on the school as a whole, my perspective is still that of an outsider when it comes to the physics department.
As a side note, personally, I kind of hated the atmosphere because people often adopted a "woe is me" attitude as semesters went on. You'd be amazed how hard it is to get an MIT student to commit to spending an hour or two attending a potentially worthwhile event, in spite of the fact that they'll easily burn that much time complaining about their workload in just about any given week. At the same time, I liked the overall philosophy which really seemed to encourage pushing yourself to the limit. The Institute allows things a lot of other schools don't, such as for a student to take 6 or more classes in a term without special petition or paying extra, as well as for students to take classes that conflict (it's pretty hard to fit 7 or 8 classes into a schedule otherwise)....
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#13"As each semester progressed, attendance in [the professor's] introductory physics courses fell to 50 percent, as it did, he said, for nearly all of his colleagues...'I had poor attendance, and was failing 10 to 15 percent'" So, 50 percent of the students aren't coming to class, and they're only failing 10-15 percent? It sounds like the tests are too easy. If the tests were more demanding, more students would come to…
It sounds like the tests are too easy. You might be right that much or most of the higher pass rate is due to higher attendance, but it's also possible that students were learning plenty from section, the book, and working on problem sets. When I taught the analogous course (Physics 1) at Caltech, many of the students skipped lecture entirely. The failure rate was typically under 5%, and I guarantee it wasn't because…
I pulled this trick in my entry-level calculus class in college. They were so generous with extra credit that my marks should have meant that I got an A. But I didn't do any of the homework and the TA decided to punish me with an A-. I suppose I should have fought, but I'm epically lazy.
Lesson: if you're going to do something like this, don't assume that the people on the other end will hold up their end of the implied bargain. Either fight or do some token tribute.
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#14"As each semester progressed, attendance in [the professor's] introductory physics courses fell to 50 percent, as it did, he said, for nearly all of his colleagues...'I had poor attendance, and was failing 10 to 15 percent'" So, 50 percent of the students aren't coming to class, and they're only failing 10-15 percent? It sounds like the tests are too easy. If the tests were more demanding, more students would come to…
Everyone seems to be forgetting that students that stop attending usually drop the class -- so that they won't fail.
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#15And, in a virtual age, what is the point of a physical school? Answer: there is no point.
Synergy. Relationship. Feedback. Allowing smart people to meet each other today so that they will build the startups of tomorrow.
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#16And, in a virtual age, what is the point of a physical school? Answer: there is no point.
Synergy. Relationship. Feedback. Allowing smart people to meet each other today so that they will build the startups of tomorrow.
All possible online. No? For example, a lot of HN visitors interact here primarily to meet founding partners.
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Synergy. Relationship. Feedback. Allowing smart people to meet each other today so that they will build the startups of tomorrow.
All possible online. No? For example, a lot of HN visitors interact here primarily to meet founding partners.
Possible but not as good as when you interact directly with people (in my view).
Direct feedback with teachers is far better than a lot of email exchanges, or than videoconference.
Spending a lot of time with other students on the same projects, in the same room and everyday at the university give you the opportunity to know their personality, and how they work. A lot better than doing a project in common with Internet.
You also have more opportunities to meet people from other horizons (i.e. non geeks).
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#18As a slight thread hijack, which do you prefer, blackboards or whiteboards? The physicists and mathematicians I know seem to universally prefer blackboards, while everyone else seems to like whiteboards. I like whiteboards for any semi-permanent or "data-rich" writing (i.e. multi-color), but probably prefer blackboards for intense computation.
While RK is asking - has anyone had contact with those glass boards that Joel wrote about recently?
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
All possible online. No? For example, a lot of HN visitors interact here primarily to meet founding partners.
Possible but not as good as when you interact directly with people (in my view). Direct feedback with teachers is far better than a lot of email exchanges, or than videoconference. Spending a lot of time with other students on the same projects, in the same room and everyday at the university give you the opportunity to know their personality, and how they work. A lot better than doing a project in common with Intern…
Direct feedback with teachers is far better than [...] videoconference.
Wouldn't that depend upon the quality of the "videoconference"?
http://www.google.com/search?q=telepresence+%22eye+contact%2...
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in the same room
Kind of like ... HP's Halo?
http://www.hp.com/halo/introducing.html
Halo gives the sense of being in the same room together.
Re: At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard
#20As a slight thread hijack, which do you prefer, blackboards or whiteboards? The physicists and mathematicians I know seem to universally prefer blackboards, while everyone else seems to like whiteboards. I like whiteboards for any semi-permanent or "data-rich" writing (i.e. multi-color), but probably prefer blackboards for intense computation.
While RK is asking - has anyone had contact with those glass boards that Joel wrote about recently?
Yep, they're nice.
One thing though, when there's direct light, what's written on the surface casts a shadow on the painted back-side. It looks a bit odd.
Also, the same effect results in a fuzzy picture when the glass board is used as a projector screen.
I'd love to experiment with back-lighting the glass board. If would eliminate the shadow-problem, and look pretty neat, I think.