>Dear Ray ...
>Where in the world do you find the time to do this?
>It must have taken up quite a bit of your time!
>What about research ... etc.?
>God Bless You !!!
>THOMAS ANG
>E-mail:
thomasang@post1.com
Thomas,
Well, that's encouraging. Sounds like you see something good in the
dialogues I offered examples of.
You're right ... it does take a lot of time.
And, as you imply, if real learning takes that much time, can we afford to
do it at all? That's something that I wonder about all the time now. I
watch these dialogues unfold and think to myself that something is really
happening ... and our mass educational system won't permit their use.
And, then I wonder why go through the motions with the other stuff that we
call teaching.
I've come to the conclusion that I could handle two classes of 30 per year
or maybe three and still have half my time for other responsibilities. But
that's a luxury in most places, including mine.
And what about research? I don't see much productive research in our field
... I mean research that enlightens, that can be used to say, "this is how
to do it" or "how to understand it".
Another thought ... in teaching with this method ... to the extent that we
develop a genuine learning dialogue, aren't we doing the kind of research
that is really needed?
Still, most of our academic colleagues are trapped either by faculty
evaluation committees and/or by a lust for fame, eh? And research is what
counts.
Those are just some off the top response to your comments.
Ray
Dr. R.V. (Ray) Rasmussen
Chair, Department of Organizational Analysis
http://www.bus.ualberta.ca/rrasmussen/
Director, Environmental Research & Studies Centre
http://www.ualberta.ca/~ersc/