Pseudoteaching

John Burk (of Quantum Progress) and Frank Noschese (of Action-Reaction) have decided to promote the term pseudoteaching. Their definition:

Pseudoteaching is something you realize you're doing after you've attempted a lesson which from the outset looks like it should result in student learning, but upon further reflection, you realize that the very lesson itself was flawed and involved minimal learning.

If you have been teaching (or facilitating learning as I like to call it) for quite some time, you have to have noticed this. Just because I clearly explain something on the chalk board does not mean that everyone gets it.

I like to use the example of a uni-cycle - which I actually don't know how to ride. Suppose I was riding a uni-cycle in front of the class and showing all sorts of tricks. Would this help the students learn how to ride it? No.

Lecture as Pseudoteaching and Not

I have a couple of examples of pseudoteaching - which I still do from time to time. Actually, I can do something that could be both pseudoteaching and facilitating learning. Here is the scenario. Suppose I solve a conservation of momentum problem in class on the board. For students that have looked at this kind of problem, this might be a great opportunity to 'fill-in the missing parts' of their understanding. Sometimes lectures are great for learning.

Now take this exact same situation. Say there is another student in that same class. This student has not yet worked on conservation of momentum. For this student, the presented solution might seem to make sense. However, I doubt it will really help in that student's understanding.

Pseudoteaching in Lab

Here is another example. When I first started 'teaching' lab courses, I tended to write (or borrow) my own labs and post these online. Then for the first 30 minutes or so of the lab class, I would go over what we were going to do that day. It isn't difficult to realize that this mini-lecture at the beginning does nothing to help them.

Now, I post the labs and give a 5 minute lecture. At the beginning of each class I let students ask ANY questions about the lab material. Often it is clear that they have not yet read or prepared for the lab. In this case, my lecture would be useless (except to waste time). If there are no questions, I might give some brief tips on specific equipment use (like be sure to clamp this thing down).

Overall I am happy with this new format. I still have students that aren't sure what to do, but it is clear that they should read the stuff before hand. It also gives me more time for individual interactions with students.

Pseudoteaching in Blogging

Yes. I said it. Blogging is my last strong hold of pseudoteaching. Really, this is just like the lecture thing. Is it possible that my blog posts could be useful? Absolutely. Could the help the student that needs help right before the test? It is possible, but highly unlikely.

So, the blog posts can be a form of pseudoteaching - but it depends on who you are.

If no pseudoteaching, then what?

I understand that it seems like there is nothing to do but lecture. Moving away from a pure lecture based course can lead to some awkward moments. Actually, this happens to me all the time. I tell the students:

"Ok. You need to read chapter 3. The text does a pretty good job explaining this stuff. Also, here are some extra online stuff that might help. You don't have to completely understand this material, but if you don't even try you will be lost. In class we will do more useful things."

Then, in the next class I will maybe give the students some problems to work on. It is partially painful to see students just sitting there with no idea of where to start and not even asking for help. It is clear that some of these students are not prepared. Maybe I should give them a lecture on the material they didn't read. Should I? If I do, they will never read this stuff before class. This is awkward time.

So, here is my typical class time recipe:

• Maybe give a super short summary of the concepts (maybe like 5 minutes). Yes, this is pseudoteaching and yes I just said you shouldn't do this. Sometimes I do this after they have read it and sometimes I don't even do this.
• If the students have questions on the reading or the homework, I will try to give nice answers. If they haven't worked on the homework or read the text, they likely won't have any questions.
• Give some student response multiple-choice questions (clickers). Usually, I just find some to give rather than making my own. However, it is pretty easy to make some. They don't have to be super hard or elaborate questions. The clicker questions are just a starting point for a discussion.
• Practice problems. I call these practice test questions to motivate them. During this time, I tell them the best thing is that they work the problem just like it was a test question. If they can't do that, then ask for help - either from a classmate, from the text or from me. The absolute worst thing they could do would be to just sit there and wait for someone to give the answer.
• Rinse. Repeat.

If you want to look at some more examples of pseudoteaching, Frank should be keeping a list of posts on his site.