CL1 - Stories: Simple Peer Techniques



 
 
   
   
 
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
   
   


 
 
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
 


Simple Peer Techniques
 
- by Doug Duncan

Doug Duncan Picture




"One of my main goals was for students to come to appreciate the critical role that observations and experiments play in science."





At the University of Chicago, I have with considerable success introduced some simple peer techniques into a natural sciences breadth requirement course for first-year, non-science majors -- about 100 students. The class meets for an hour and a half, twice a week, with an associated lab and recitation that meets once a week. One and a half hours is a bad length for a lecture -- it's too long. This extensive class length gave me an incentive to try something besides a pure lecture.

Furthermore, one of my main goals was for students to come to appreciate the critical role that observations and experiments play in science. Most of my students enter the class not believing that they could "do" science themselves -- or not believing that they would enjoy it or find it creative. Most believe that "right" and "wrong" are decided by authorities. The idea that nature itself, closely observed, can reveal whether ideas are true or false is foreign to them.

To address these issues, I introduced weekly "Challenges".


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