> Rather than instructing students with Khan’s videos, teachers should be inspiring them to figure things out on their own and learn how to create their own knowledge by working together.
In it, he advocates flipping the traditional school model of passive lecturing in the classroom, followed by problem solving during homework, and instead use videos like his to allow the students to view the lectures at home as homework and then spend their class time interactive with the teach and other students in active learning and problem solving.
I think there are a few issues here. The issues seem to be assumptions that cause disagreements.
1 - the assumption that it is easily possible to use the best teaching methods on video.
2 - the assumption that it is not possible to use video as a good teaching tool.
3 - all feedback data is directly proportional and an accurate representation of student learning.
My take on the assumptions:
1- The best (and research proven - google physics education researcy) methods are not direct lecture (aka traditional lecture / sage on the stage etc...). The best methods involve a process commonly referred to as Interactive Engagement (IE). Using these methods, students interact with each other, the instructor, and the appropriate materials for the class.
Me discussing things, working some samples, asking the students to work some samples... that is the traditional approach. It is only minimally effective at changing the way students think. There are 2 links below that go more fully into the interactive education approach (backed up by Physics Education Research - PER).
2 - The assumption that videos can't work is also problematic. They can be useful. However, if i create a video in which i: discuss things, work some samples, ask the students to work some samples... well, since that is only minimally effective when I am there and able to respond to questions, it is even less effective if I am not there and the student can only watch.
If the video is made in a way that addresses common prior-conceptions, then you've got a shot at changing the way people think. However, it is not effective to simply state the common prior-conception is wrong.
A common example, beginners think light bulbs use up current. The first bulb uses some, the next uses what’s left. Tell them that is not the case and they will parrot it back. When they test on it, or when it is phrased or needed in a different way, beginners go back to their initial conception. The approach of, “they just need to listen” doesn’t work.
A common way in which we address prior conceptions (I think originated by McDermott at UW) is to show a couple of student reasoning examples that attempt to explain a phenomena. The current student chooses if student A, B, or neither is correct. Then that same prior-conception is hit over and over in a variety of ways in an effort to truly overcome the prior-conception and establish / replace / adjust it so that the student’s concept of what is going on agrees with the accepted evidence.
Again, if I make a video of traditional teaching, it will (at best) be as bad as traditional teaching. Putting it on video doesn’t make it better. This would be, essentially video Cliff notes.
3 – Feedback… This can be messy. There have been an odd number of studies that check to see if student feedback is helpful. An MIT study showed that students gave very poor reviews to a new teaching method for E&M. These are MIT kids that should be pretty bright. Pretty self-aware of their learning (one would think). The overwhelming response on reviews of the new approach was that students preferred the more traditional course structure and felt they learned little. The results were that the students in the new course (that students didn’t rate highly) did significantly better than the students in the traditional course.
What's curious about this critique is that it sounds almost exactly like what Khan advocates in his recent TED talk (here:http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_rein...)
In it, he advocates flipping the traditional school model of passive lecturing in the classroom, followed by problem solving during homework, and instead use videos like his to allow the students to view the lectures at home as homework and then spend their class time interactive with the teach and other students in active learning and problem solving.