Hey guys,
I had a really hard time deciding what to talk about this week! However, what really stuck out to me was our last lecture and more particularly its format.
I felt like Tuesday we discussed how much group activity there normally is in lecture, however, on Thursday we only barely started one of the lecture tutorials. Our class was focused more on lecture, but not what I would traditionally think of as lecture.
In most of the science courses I’ve taken here at Vandy (which have been many as a pre-med physics student), lecture consists of professors talking at me while I scramble to copy what they are writing on the chalkboard (or presenting in a powerpoint). What was interesting to me about Thursday’s lecture (and what I’ve noticed in all of the “mini” lectures we’ve had so far) is that Dr. G doesn’t really write a whole lot in a powerpoint or even on the board. Do you think she does this in an effort to make us pay attention to what she is saying? Does this keep us more engaged? Or is it an attempt to make sure people attend lecture?
The other thing about Thursday in particular that stuck out was the use of visuals. We talk a lot about how big the universe is and how hard it is to comprehend the scale, but Thursday’s lecture included a lot of models and physical demonstrations. Did this help you understand scale? Clear up any issues you had with the reading?
And lastly, why this idea really caught my attention, I’ve always heard of different learning styles- people will claim to be auditory or visual learners. Do you think there is any truth to learning styles? Does Dr. G do a good job of catering to all of them or do you feel that any particular style would feel left out?
(If you have no clue what I’m talking about or would like to read more about the debate over learning styles and their validity, this wikipedia article is a good place to start)
