Third Week Finished

I can not believe the third week is already done! This week combined a variety of teaching methods, including lectures, active group learning, and active learning/discussions. For Tuesday’s class, Prof. Gurung went more in deph for the correlation and experimantal reserach design methods. He also did an in-class assignment (in groups of 5), where each group had to choose whether the example on the PowerPoint was an experiment or a correlation. Not everyone got the answer right (correlation), but from this assignment, the students will be able to tell if they need to study or ask questions about the material we covered. We also went over the answers in class, so the students would not be anxious about their grades. The results for the end of Supersize Me was also presented, and we discussed what kind of study he conducted, and the strengths and weaknesses of it.

Thursday’s class consisted of mostly lecture, going into the “biology” section of psychology and how the two are related. I think that Prof. Gurung’s opening for the class was a really good idea. The whole relation to the biology of love and attraction eased students into the class, instead of jumping into in-deph material right off the bat. He was quick to recognize how he might have offended someone when he was talking about genetics and said something like, “well look at your parents!” He was quick to prove his point that weight factors may be hereditary for some.  In his lecturing, I also noticed two other things. First, Prof. Gurung would often tell the students what something is, and then give an example of what it is not. This is a very smart thing to do, because this isolates the point that he is trying to prove. The second thing was that in his speech, he uses the words “you” and “we,” instead of “people,” “others,” or “some.” When we use this kind of speech, we give others a way to compare the material to their own lives. I’m not sure if Prof. Gurung pays attention to this, but I think it makes a difference. It definitely makes a difference when someone says, “People’s emotions can affect their health,” and “Our emotions can affect our health.”

The only problem I noticed was that in the back, some of the students will have their notebooks out, but not take notes for the majority of the class. I don’t know how we can change this,but it was something I noticed when I was sitting in the front (because nobody’s hands were moving in the back).

Some things from the Teaching Tips book that I think related to this week was the bit on how students are more likely to talk in small, rather than large groups (p. 219). Maybe things that they do not want to admit to a whole class they don’t know, they will be willing to discuss among a small group from the class. Another good idea was that when you present a question to the class, give them time to think about it, and then don’t give the answer, but facilitate discussion (p. 225). Listen, question, clarify, challenge, and ask for the students to provide evidence if they have contradicting answers. The last thing that I think relates to Prof. Gurung’s class is structure. For students who are not highly-intelligent, structure can enhance learning (p. 226)!  This can be recognized in the way that Prof. Gurung goes over before each class what is going to be done, directs students to what material they need to look at, and also provides them with help in a structured way (e.g., Prof. open office hours, study groups, TA’s, etc.).

Third week was fun. Fourth should be interesting with the individual study sessions!