My undergraduate class had the teacher standing in front of the class, using Keynote (the Mac version of Power Point) to deliver his lectures. Occasionally we'd turn in projects, take tests, and participate in class. While the professor said he encouraged discussion in the class, most of his questions were rhetorical and my initial attempts to answer actually disrupted the lecture. I get the feeling that he's become so accustomed to students not participating, that he's no longer prepared for students who do.
My graduate class, on the other hand, is in a much nicer classroom, and is full of students who had to work hard to be there. Many of us are parents, so our being in school is hard work for our families, and not just ourselves. In this class, we've taken turns teaching, presenting our chapters and leading discussions and hands on activities. Conversation is active and on topic in this class.
So... which format is better? That depends.
Subject areas where there really is a clear cut right or wrong answer, like math, benefit from having a teacher run each class. In my undergraduate class, one of the other students talked about how, in one of her other science or medicine classes, their teacher let the class "waste their time" pursuing an incorrect line of thought for three whole class periods before he told them that the answer actually was something else. Frankly, I'd be ... quite upset ... if that happened in one of my classes. I am too busy to have my time wasted like that, and don't want to later have to unlearn falsehoods I learned at school! If the other professor was teaching something by letting the students chase their tails like that, the lesson was lost on my classmate. These subject areas might benefit from a lot of discussion, and maybe a seminar format, but for these subject areas, I want my teacher to stand up there and say, "This is how it is. Now lets explore WHY."
Other subject areas are rapidly evolving, like technology, or are open to a certain amount of interpretation, like literature and much of history. In these classes, having students teach at least part of the class can not only keep the lesson up to date, but will also infuse multiple points of view into the discussion. In my technology class, our text was last revised in 2012 - and only a year later we're finding that some of the programs being discussed are no longer available. A professor who writes his/her lesson plan too early could find the same things happening with their planned lecture. When students are doing it, the lesson is being revised up until the absolute last minute (in most cases), keeping it fresh. In this class format, the teacher's primary job is then to ensure that what the student is teaching is correct, and that everything that should have been covered has been.
As if this isn't a "yes and no" answer enough already, I must add a third category: the hybrid. Lets take a subject like medicine - there are clear cut wrong answers, it is a rapidly evolving topic, and there is a certain amount of interpretation as western medicine meets eastern, holistic, and alternative medicine. For these classes, I'd maybe devote 3/4 of the class to teacher led lecture and discussion - then leave the last 1/4 for a student presentation on topically relevant innovations or theories.
I must add a further provision onto my opinions - letting students teach a class is something that works in adult education, but I'm not sure it'd work in K-12. I say this because the student-led classroom depends on motivated students. After I've learned more of the teacher end of the School Librarian's craft, I may change my mind, but until then I'm just not sure it'd work.
Subject areas where there really is a clear cut right or wrong answer, like math, benefit from having a teacher run each class. In my undergraduate class, one of the other students talked about how, in one of her other science or medicine classes, their teacher let the class "waste their time" pursuing an incorrect line of thought for three whole class periods before he told them that the answer actually was something else. Frankly, I'd be ... quite upset ... if that happened in one of my classes. I am too busy to have my time wasted like that, and don't want to later have to unlearn falsehoods I learned at school! If the other professor was teaching something by letting the students chase their tails like that, the lesson was lost on my classmate. These subject areas might benefit from a lot of discussion, and maybe a seminar format, but for these subject areas, I want my teacher to stand up there and say, "This is how it is. Now lets explore WHY."
Other subject areas are rapidly evolving, like technology, or are open to a certain amount of interpretation, like literature and much of history. In these classes, having students teach at least part of the class can not only keep the lesson up to date, but will also infuse multiple points of view into the discussion. In my technology class, our text was last revised in 2012 - and only a year later we're finding that some of the programs being discussed are no longer available. A professor who writes his/her lesson plan too early could find the same things happening with their planned lecture. When students are doing it, the lesson is being revised up until the absolute last minute (in most cases), keeping it fresh. In this class format, the teacher's primary job is then to ensure that what the student is teaching is correct, and that everything that should have been covered has been.
As if this isn't a "yes and no" answer enough already, I must add a third category: the hybrid. Lets take a subject like medicine - there are clear cut wrong answers, it is a rapidly evolving topic, and there is a certain amount of interpretation as western medicine meets eastern, holistic, and alternative medicine. For these classes, I'd maybe devote 3/4 of the class to teacher led lecture and discussion - then leave the last 1/4 for a student presentation on topically relevant innovations or theories.
I must add a further provision onto my opinions - letting students teach a class is something that works in adult education, but I'm not sure it'd work in K-12. I say this because the student-led classroom depends on motivated students. After I've learned more of the teacher end of the School Librarian's craft, I may change my mind, but until then I'm just not sure it'd work.
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