University of Wisconsin at Madison is changing the way they teach – some computer science classes are losing lectures in favour of online-tutorials and more labs, some biomed courses are using problem based teaching styles. The chem dept is trying something new – blogging:
Tehshik Yoon: A new formula for classroom blogging
Yoon, a chemistry professor, says he has always been concerned about the communication gap between scientists and the general public, especially in his own field. So he decided to borrow a page from colleagues in English and other humanities fields, who are using classroom blogs more and more to encourage the daily habit of writing.
So what’s the initial student reaction to the Chemistry 346 Blog Project? “They hate it,” Yoon says with a chuckle. “They go in thinking it’s just another task they need to accomplish. By semester’s end, they get it and start to appreciate it.”
Yoon uses the LiveJournal blogging platform based on its popularity among younger users. In the first half of the course, students use it to kick around ideas and naturally work their way through some of the tougher organic chemistry challenges. Its value really becomes evident during the second half of the semester, when each student is assigned to an independent project in chemistry department labs. The course and the blog are great bridges into further undergraduate research, since they push students to convey the value of their work.
“One of the things I really like about the blog is students are encouraged to write at a level where their friends and family can read it,” he says. “I thought at this point in their careers, if I can get students who aren’t already enmeshed in the jargon of chemistry to talk about why what they’re doing is cool, it will have long-term professional value.”
Yoon says he benefits equally from the blog project, which is based on “just in time” teaching concepts that provide real-time snapshots of the learning process. “If I find that I’m teaching something poorly,” he says, “it’s always reflected in the blog.”
Sounds like they are creating a student body that can do the research and also explain it to their parents!!! That is certainly a transferable skill to many many other types of careers….
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