My best wishes for your holidays. Thanks to those who read the blog faithfully as well as those who read it intermittently. I enjoy meeting you on my travels and hearing about a blog post that you’ve read and appreciated. I work hard to make them useful—hoping to enlarge your understanding, challenge your thinking, and [...]
Blog » Learning
Doing Learner-Centered Teaching or Being Learner-Centered
Posted Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 by Maryellen Weimer“In most of the writing on learner-centered education … the focus remains on the teacher—what he or she can or should do to achieve learner-centered instruction. Although a learner-centered model is based in a different set of assumption than a teacher-centered model, the starting point is still pedagogical techniques initiated by the teacher. … In our view, such a focus objectifies students, distances teachers, and underemphasizes the most critical element in the classroom: learning.”
Memorization: It Isn’t All Bad
Posted Thursday, November 11th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerAll memorization is not bad. It can be a tool that leads to understanding. It opens the door to knowledge. Sometimes even rote memorization is a necessary first step. If you’ve got it in your mind, even though you may not understand it fully or at all, its relevance, connection, and value is there to be discovered, provided it moves from short-term memory (where most things memorized by rote are stored) to long-term memory.
Writing Promotes Learning
Posted Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerOnce again I’m trying to clean out my collection of articles on teaching and learning. I’ve been collecting for years and have hundreds … yes, hundreds. Now that everything is available online there is no reason to keep the many stacks and boxes that have filled my office to overflowing. The problem, of course, is [...]
Learning can be Frustrating
Posted Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerIt’s good to remember how frustrating learning can be. It’s even better when you experience the frustration firsthand.
