Hey Higher Ed, Why Not Focus On Teaching? - ERIC WESTERVELT, NPRed

Stanford physics and education professor Carl Wieman won a Nobel Prize for his innovative, break-through work in quantum mechanics. Wieman's message, as we've reported here and here, is bold: Too many undergraduate programs fail to focus on teaching effectiveness or even bother to try to measure it. As he sees it, undergraduate Higher Ed still worships at the old false idol called the Big Lecture and doesn't seem to want to ask whether it's working. His solution: Systemically improve teaching through methods that have become known as active learning. Wieman's been interested in effective teaching strategies for years. He argues that a well implemented active learning approach can substantially improve understanding and retention of the material and boost attendance and course satisfaction, among other improvements. http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/06/07/530909736/hey-higher-ed-why-not-focus-on-teaching