Introduction, Option C:
Teaching versus Learning Cartoon
 

Estimated Time: 10 minutes.

Example of Use: Sample 6-Hour Workshop Agenda.

List of Materials

Sample Presentation
Begin your workshop by introducing yourself or having someone introduce you. Become acquainted with the participants. If the group is small, you may wish to have individuals introduce themselves. In a large group, you may wish to have people respond to such general questions as, "How many teach grades K-2 (3-5, etc.)?" or to make such general comments as, "I was happy to meet some of you at the convention and to be invited to tell you more about SFAA and Benchmarks." Set a more specific context for the workshop if it is appropriate to do so.

TRANSPARENCY: Cartoon: Teaching Dog To Whistle.

Presenter: In Science for All Americans, Chapter 13, Effective Learning and Teaching, we read

Cognitive research is revealing that even with what is taken
to be good instruction, many students, including academically
talented ones, understand less than we think they do. [p. 198,
Science for All Americans Oxford University Press, New York, 1990] How do we know what students have learned; what they really understand?

Possible responses: from tests; from papers they write or projects they complete; from class discussions. Record some of the responses to this question on a blank transparency or chart paper.

Presenter: Do you have any evidence from your teaching experience or perhaps from your own learning experience that students often understand less than the teacher thinks they do? 

Possible responses: when they aren’t able to elaborate on an answer they give; when they answer one part of a question correctly but miss a follow-up question; I know that I don’t really understand something when I try to explain it to someone and can’t. Record some of the responses.