"Why?" and the rabbit hole
Sometimes students get a little carried away with the "why?" questioning and it leads away from what my course is focusing on which leads me to start discussing something that is covered in one of their other courses they are currently taking. I have to catch myself and stay close to the topic. Sometimes though, it seems the students are put off by the "you'll get to it in your 103 class" type response, and I have to politely explain that we need to stay on topic in order to cover the material for this class. The why on top of why can lead down a long and deep rabbit hole to a point that has little to do with the original topic. This exact thing happens when researching on the internet.
I always write the learning objectives for that days class on the whiteboard and whatever I'm delivering that class is directly related to the objectives. So while I encourage discussion even during a powerpoint lecture, I always steer the conversation back to the objectives. I explain that it is to their advantage to stay on topic because it will benefit them in preparing for the quiz and the homework project.
That's a good point about the "why" questioning being very similar to the way the internet works. A person can simply continue to click links on webpages to get streaming answers to their "why" questions. Whereas, in a classroom setting with a human teacher there is a focus which must be maintained.
Jason,
this is true & this is why I like to present a curriculum map to my students for each of the courses on the first day of class. I do this to try & help them understand how each class fits into the greater plan.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Juan,
this is a great idea & it can be used by the classmates to keep each other on topic & focused as well.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I write down the daily objectives on the board at the begining of class, as well as have a lesson sylabus that is provided to the students ahead of time.
This is an interesting concept, I sometimes find that I try to put to much into one lecture cause I also come from Gen-Y. So I have to constantly remind myself to keep right on the course objectives.
