GS. John Vũ: Học qua hỏi

GS. John Vũ
(Carnegie Melon University)

(Bản dịch của Ông Ngô Trung Việt)

Nguyên văn bài viết của GS. John Vu:

Learning by asking

One of the most challenging problems that I face when teaching in Asia is the lack of interaction between professor and the students. I know many students have questions, but they hesitate and do not ask. Either they feel uncomfortable or embarrassed, but if they do not ask, they cannot get an answer. Of course, for the professors, we cannot answer questions if students do not ask.

When you teach science and technology, questions and answers are the most critical part of teaching and learning. There are many complex concepts and new terminologies, and without discussion, students will not learn well. Sometimes, after the lecture, I tell the class: “If you do not ask, I will call you by name and require you to ask a question.” Of course, that is not the way to get students motivated and learned.

An Asian professor advised me: “For many years, these students have been told to sit quietly and listen to the lecture. Asking a question can disrupt the lecture. Why don’t you just lecture like others rather than focus on questions and answers  method? I did not like his advice, so I try another approach.

At the beginning of the class, I gave each student several blank cards for them to write their questions and said: “These are anonymous, no name. Just write a question, or let  me know what you want me to explain more.” After the short lecture, I collected these cards and mixed them up to maintain their anonymity then read each question and answer them accordingly. At the end of the class, most students got their questions answered. They also hear other students’ questions and got the answers.

At first, I only have a few questions written on the cards, but overtimes, I received more questions. After a few weeks, suddenly a student asked: “Why do we need to write a question on the card? why don’t we just ask you directly?” I told them: “If you want, you can ask me directly, or you can still write on the card. I will answer them all.”

By the end of the course, most students would ask me directly, and they told me that they like this interaction better as they learn more. A student commented: “We get many questions answered, so we do not need to read more or find the answers somewhere.” I explained: “If you do not ask, you do not know. If you do not know, you do not learn. The best way to learn is by asking what you do not understand.”

Nguồn: science-technology.vn