MIT OpenCourseWare http ocw mit edu Resource The Torch or the Firehose Arthur Mattuck The following may not correspond to a particular course on MIT OpenCourseWare but has been provided by the author as an individual learning resource For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use visit http ocw mit edu terms The Glass Wall Encouraging Interaction The number one problem in teaching recitations is the glass wall the teacher on one side doing a passable job of explaining talking and writing but rarely interacting with the student on the other side Listen to an undergraduate describe it We re usually all there when he walks in He looks sort of embarrassed stares down at the desk and asks if we have any questions There s an awkward silence like at a party where nobody can think of anything to say Then he starts to work a problem from the homework He talks to the blackboard in a steady even way You can hear but you can t tell what s important and what isn t I can t follow one of the steps but I m afraid to say anything Every now and then he says Okay but it doesn t mean anything and he doesn t stop After a while you don t really understand much and wonder why you re there I copy the stuff into my notebook I ll probably be able to figure it out at home but if it wasn t for the exam I know I d never look at it I guess I keep going because I know that otherwise I d just waste the hour some other way He knows his stuff all right but it s as if he s up front and we re back there and there s a glass wall between us A recitation without interaction what problem could be more basic Without the ease of communication that s supposed to be fostered by small groups why have recitations at all An extra lecture or two each week devoted to problem solving would do just as well and save many teacherhours The lack of interaction is bad for you it makes it hard for you to know the difficulties your students are having You can t tell if your explanation is opening the door or whether you need to try another key in the lock How can you grow as a teacher if you don t get feedback from your students It s bad for your students who already have sat through many lectures and don t really want another one from you They need a chance to talk and express themselves to clarify their own thinking to share their difficulties with each other to experience the feeling of a group working together on mutual problems This is what recitations are about and getting it to happen in yours ought to be your number one priority 5 Breaking down the glass wall Achieving real communication with your students isn t always easy Think of all the situations in ordinary life where two people find communication difficult add to them the extra complications that arise when one of them is an authority figure and the other must talk with an audience of peers listening You re going to need some tact and skill here are some suggestions Get Them Thinking Your students have just arrived and are sitting there thinking about life s problems about the class they just came from or most likely about nothing at all Any questions Questions They can t even remember what the current topic is They thumb through their notebooks but it s hard to start out cold Your first task is to get their mental sap flowing Remind them first of any formulas they will need then ask some easy review questions very easy if you suspect they are far behind If you are handing back a problem set give them a typical mistake and ask what the error is You could give them a few minutes to work by themselves or in small groups on two problems you give out while you walk around the room seeing where they are and giving individual help When most students have finished the first one ask for the solution and act as a scribe at the blackboard A class comes to life when everyone has just thought about the same problem in fact seatwork alone or in groups is so effective that many teachers use it several times in every class meeting Problems and questions get thinking going But since so many teachers experience difficulties asking and answering questions and doing it well is so important to the success of your recitation we will devote the next chapter to this For now let s go on to consider some things that can hinder interaction in your class Peer group Pressure If things seem sticky you are asking good questions but get only nervous looks in return your students may be afraid of saying something that will make them look foolish in front of the others Sometimes you will see students silently mouthing an answer they don t dare to say out loud Perhaps you have felt this way yourself in advanced courses or seminars If so you will appreciate that it is a difficult problem to deal with The ultimate solution has to be for them to feel comfortable with each other but this won t happen right away Meanwhile you can help a lot by being supportive of wrong answers and non responses That s not exactly correct Jennifer but you re on the right track 6 That s a mistake everyone makes I m actually glad you made it because it gives me a chance to clear up a common confusion Don t worry Bill I know it s hard to get in gear Responses like these will go a long way toward convincing them that it s all right to hazard an answer Of course you need to be supportive of their questions as well but we ll talk about this in the next chapter Student Time Delay It s one of the greatest stumbling blocks to interaction students always seem to be behind If there s a weekly problem set many will not start studying for it until the night before it is due before that they will understand very little of what s been said in lecture during the week No wonder they are silent You can deal with the problem in three ways ignore it accept it or fight it If you ignore it by pretending they are up to date you ll find yourself doing most of the problem choosing and talking with class participation limited to just the few students who are prepared If you accept the situation you ll probably feel it is your duty to teach them what they haven t yet studied It s a bad habit to get into but if you do this at least avoid straight lecturing try to teach interactively with questions and work they can do either together as a class or individually or …