how the teachers should actually teach A few days back, during a viva session one of my classmates experienced a rather awkward situation. He was asked by the examiner to give an example of a fatty acid and he answered -- Aspartic acid. Any student pursuing a major in biology should naturally know that aspartic acid is not a fatty acid but an amino acid. This is some of the basics of biology.
So the very next moment, the examiner starts to laugh and sends off the student while our teacher makes a terribly sullen face and asks the student to meet her after the whole viva session ends.
In the meantime, the "news" of a student answering aspartic acid as a fatty acid spreads out among all the other students just as a virus infecting an animal body (apologies for a biological analogy!). I, being enrolled with one of the last roll numbers of my class got a nice chance to quietly listen to what my teacher had to say to my classmate.
Here's what she said:
"padhte-likhte nhi ho kya? (Don't you study?). You are a 2nd year Biotechnology student and still you have no idea about what a fatty acid is? Humanities hi le lete (you should have taken humanities). You people hamper our images by answering such stupidly. Now what will the examiner think of me?'
My friend, to this, had no reply.
He just stood there in my teacher's lab with his hands back and head down waiting for that one precious word- GO. So after next ten minutes, the teacher spoke out that treasured word loved by any other college student and at-last my classmate came out with mixed emotions on his face-- sad about the incident but still happy about getting out from our teacher's lab. He will not have to hear her voice again till the next semester starts- what a joy!
So what actually was the reason behind such an answer? Or as my teacher said- how could a 2nd year Biotechnology student have no idea about what a fatty acid is?
There can be many reasons- first being the student is not interested altogether. His interest lies in some other subjects or activities which he couldn't pursue due to various priorities, family pressures, etc, or simply because he got nervous and couldn't reply. The list is never ending.
But as per me. one of the major reasons behind such attitudes of students are teachers themselves. They are the ones who teach us various subjects, they are the ones who've got the responsibility to shape our minds up, or simply they are the individuals who've got a fundamental role in building our future. And whatsoever they are doing to get this task done, in my slang, is NOT COOL.
First lets explore what a typical Professor or teacher does when he has a topic to explain-- he simply defines it. Some of them plainly reads a textbook definition, some even let you write those definitions (and feel proud of the fact that they're giving the so called notes to their gullible yet lovely students!), while some of them even have a nerve to explain the same bloody sentence in their mother tongues (Hindi in my case).
This is such an obvious thing, right? Starting a topic by first defining it? NO, it is not.
Instead of simply defining the topic and assuming that your students have perfectly understood it (which is a 100% wrong notion), the teacher should first explain how the definition actually came up. How did that old chap (the scientist) reach that definition. What did he really do, or what experiments did he actually perform which ultimately made him write that definition down.
The teacher should teach the students to emphasize, that is to get into the shoes of the scientist who performed the experiments and reach those particular results. This is what will make the students actually think about that topic and not just mug it up one day before their end semester examinations.
For instance, a biology teacher should not start the topic of Fermentation by simply saying it is a process that converts sugars to acids, gases and alcohol in the presence of yeasts under anaerobic conditions, instead she should start by explaining to students what actually came into a 19th century scientists mind when he saw gas bubbles and alcohol formation when he kept fruit juice for some while.(Apologies once again for a biological example, I can't help it !). This is what actually will make some interest among students.
Now, after defining a particular topic the teacher has to ensure that her students have a preliminary knowledge about the stuff she'll be teaching ahead. So instead of reminding the facts (they students learned in high school) to the students, she starts asking questions. Questions, which the students surely won't be able to answer mainly because of the fact that those stuff can be looked upon whenever we need them from books or the internet. Then they're all like "12th me nhi padha tumne ye?" (you didn't study this in your high school?). So, we have to again learn or rattafy that stuff just to get those extra internal marks.
Instead of asking questions that have to be actually learned first, teachers should make the students think on the topic she's teaching and ask logical questions at the end of the lecture or on the next day. Starting a topic with questions makes no sense to me!
Some teachers have their own nakhre (tantrums)-- they don't want any disturbance while they are lecturing. They simply say "questions or doubts after the lecture please."So the questions popping up in our minds will not be taken in the middle of the lecture but at the end of it. Now what happens is, some students don't ever clear their doubts as the lecture has already ended and they can't wait to get out of the class, or some of them simply forget what questions really came up in their minds during the mid-lecture.
Who's in profit-- The Teacher!
Teachers should realize the fact that it is not literally a lecture that they have to give , but they have to make each and every student understand as well as think about a specified topic. A typical class should not be one way but there should be a two way approach to it. It should not merely include teachers filling facts into students minds. rather it should be an interactive session.
Another notion that a teacher should eradicate from his mind is the notion of him being a genius and his students-- dumb-asses! He should respect every child's creativeness, Creativity is something which every student has and it is really crucial for teachers to value it. But it usually gets disregarded and by the time the students grow up, it"s completely lost,
We are being educated out of our creative abilities, Teachers should realize the fact that every child has his own creative capacities and should value each and every bit of it.
So this is for all the students who couldn't score well in their exam just because they reached their exams hall 5 minutes late, for those who are still mugging up those textbook definitions, for those who run around for notes before their end semesters, for those who hate derivations but love technology, for those who doesn't remember those facts induced into their brains during their high school days, but still precisely know the concepts which seemed logical, for those who dislike old rejected scientific theories but love new innovative scientific ideas, for those who are pressurized to think out of the box without even being told what's in the box, for those who hate taking lectures but love researching around in college labs -- DO NOT STOP!
Be curious, explore your interests, Google any question that comes up in your mind (you can even go to your teacher and ask him, believe me he will have to a answer, no matter what!), read widely, try new things, work until your idols become your rivals, be updated, meet successful people of your field, talk to them,, gain inspiration, inspire your juniors and remember:
If people aren't laughing at your dreams, your dreams aren't BIG ENOUGH.
And for the teachers, if a student is answering aspartic acid for a fatty acid, it's bloody your fault!
So here's me ending my article by quoting some great lines said by William Arthur Ward:
"the mediocre teacher tell. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires"
So the very next moment, the examiner starts to laugh and sends off the student while our teacher makes a terribly sullen face and asks the student to meet her after the whole viva session ends.
In the meantime, the "news" of a student answering aspartic acid as a fatty acid spreads out among all the other students just as a virus infecting an animal body (apologies for a biological analogy!). I, being enrolled with one of the last roll numbers of my class got a nice chance to quietly listen to what my teacher had to say to my classmate.
Here's what she said:
"padhte-likhte nhi ho kya? (Don't you study?). You are a 2nd year Biotechnology student and still you have no idea about what a fatty acid is? Humanities hi le lete (you should have taken humanities). You people hamper our images by answering such stupidly. Now what will the examiner think of me?'
My friend, to this, had no reply.
He just stood there in my teacher's lab with his hands back and head down waiting for that one precious word- GO. So after next ten minutes, the teacher spoke out that treasured word loved by any other college student and at-last my classmate came out with mixed emotions on his face-- sad about the incident but still happy about getting out from our teacher's lab. He will not have to hear her voice again till the next semester starts- what a joy!
So what actually was the reason behind such an answer? Or as my teacher said- how could a 2nd year Biotechnology student have no idea about what a fatty acid is?
There can be many reasons- first being the student is not interested altogether. His interest lies in some other subjects or activities which he couldn't pursue due to various priorities, family pressures, etc, or simply because he got nervous and couldn't reply. The list is never ending.
But as per me. one of the major reasons behind such attitudes of students are teachers themselves. They are the ones who teach us various subjects, they are the ones who've got the responsibility to shape our minds up, or simply they are the individuals who've got a fundamental role in building our future. And whatsoever they are doing to get this task done, in my slang, is NOT COOL.
First lets explore what a typical Professor or teacher does when he has a topic to explain-- he simply defines it. Some of them plainly reads a textbook definition, some even let you write those definitions (and feel proud of the fact that they're giving the so called notes to their gullible yet lovely students!), while some of them even have a nerve to explain the same bloody sentence in their mother tongues (Hindi in my case).
This is such an obvious thing, right? Starting a topic by first defining it? NO, it is not.
Instead of simply defining the topic and assuming that your students have perfectly understood it (which is a 100% wrong notion), the teacher should first explain how the definition actually came up. How did that old chap (the scientist) reach that definition. What did he really do, or what experiments did he actually perform which ultimately made him write that definition down.
The teacher should teach the students to emphasize, that is to get into the shoes of the scientist who performed the experiments and reach those particular results. This is what will make the students actually think about that topic and not just mug it up one day before their end semester examinations.
For instance, a biology teacher should not start the topic of Fermentation by simply saying it is a process that converts sugars to acids, gases and alcohol in the presence of yeasts under anaerobic conditions, instead she should start by explaining to students what actually came into a 19th century scientists mind when he saw gas bubbles and alcohol formation when he kept fruit juice for some while.(Apologies once again for a biological example, I can't help it !). This is what actually will make some interest among students.
Now, after defining a particular topic the teacher has to ensure that her students have a preliminary knowledge about the stuff she'll be teaching ahead. So instead of reminding the facts (they students learned in high school) to the students, she starts asking questions. Questions, which the students surely won't be able to answer mainly because of the fact that those stuff can be looked upon whenever we need them from books or the internet. Then they're all like "12th me nhi padha tumne ye?" (you didn't study this in your high school?). So, we have to again learn or rattafy that stuff just to get those extra internal marks.
Instead of asking questions that have to be actually learned first, teachers should make the students think on the topic she's teaching and ask logical questions at the end of the lecture or on the next day. Starting a topic with questions makes no sense to me!
Some teachers have their own nakhre (tantrums)-- they don't want any disturbance while they are lecturing. They simply say "questions or doubts after the lecture please."So the questions popping up in our minds will not be taken in the middle of the lecture but at the end of it. Now what happens is, some students don't ever clear their doubts as the lecture has already ended and they can't wait to get out of the class, or some of them simply forget what questions really came up in their minds during the mid-lecture.
Who's in profit-- The Teacher!
Teachers should realize the fact that it is not literally a lecture that they have to give , but they have to make each and every student understand as well as think about a specified topic. A typical class should not be one way but there should be a two way approach to it. It should not merely include teachers filling facts into students minds. rather it should be an interactive session.
Another notion that a teacher should eradicate from his mind is the notion of him being a genius and his students-- dumb-asses! He should respect every child's creativeness, Creativity is something which every student has and it is really crucial for teachers to value it. But it usually gets disregarded and by the time the students grow up, it"s completely lost,
We are being educated out of our creative abilities, Teachers should realize the fact that every child has his own creative capacities and should value each and every bit of it.
So this is for all the students who couldn't score well in their exam just because they reached their exams hall 5 minutes late, for those who are still mugging up those textbook definitions, for those who run around for notes before their end semesters, for those who hate derivations but love technology, for those who doesn't remember those facts induced into their brains during their high school days, but still precisely know the concepts which seemed logical, for those who dislike old rejected scientific theories but love new innovative scientific ideas, for those who are pressurized to think out of the box without even being told what's in the box, for those who hate taking lectures but love researching around in college labs -- DO NOT STOP!
Be curious, explore your interests, Google any question that comes up in your mind (you can even go to your teacher and ask him, believe me he will have to a answer, no matter what!), read widely, try new things, work until your idols become your rivals, be updated, meet successful people of your field, talk to them,, gain inspiration, inspire your juniors and remember:
If people aren't laughing at your dreams, your dreams aren't BIG ENOUGH.
And for the teachers, if a student is answering aspartic acid for a fatty acid, it's bloody your fault!
So here's me ending my article by quoting some great lines said by William Arthur Ward:
"the mediocre teacher tell. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires"
