Time for a Change

In schools across the US, there seems to be a common theme in the teaching structure. There is a lecture given, then homework, followed by a test. If you get the information great, if not, tough luck. This way of teaching has been going on for years without a change. In a Ted Talk given by Dr. Geoffrey Canada, he talks about his experience in school and how it's similar if not the same as teaching today.

Dr. Canada speaks about how there needs to be a change in the education system as students are struggling. In another Ted Talk by Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, he gives ways to fix teaching and how students need to master every topic. He gives an example of a student getting an 80% on a test which is a passing grade yet there is still 20% of the information that student doesn't understand. 

The problem is gaps in learning. This student doesn't understand 20% of the information but the class moves on building on that information that student doesn't understand. Khan's solution to this would be changing the teaching mastery instead of teaching for good test scores. 

Some schools in California have changed their teaching from lectures at school to lectures at home through videos and doing problems in class so students can ask their teachers questions. This way students can pause and learn at their own pace. Khan calls this method flipping the classroom. 

Last year in my Spanish 3 class, my teacher used this method. We would watch videos at home learning different grammar tenses and would come into class the next day and practice with the help of our teacher. Personally, I like this method a lot more than how most schools are teaching their students these days. My grades also improved from Spanish 2 to Spanish 3. 

Suzanne Dikker did a study where students were taught by a lecture and then learning from videos and group work. The results showed that students were more successful and preferred learning from videos and working together rather than the teacher giving a long lecture (Brookshire). 

Unlike in the past, we have the technology today to fix education so why don't we?

Works Cited

Brookshire, Bethany. "Brains Learning Together Act the Same." ScienceNews for Students, 30 June 2017, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/brains-learning-together-act-same. Accessed 22 Nov. 2019.

"Let's teach for mastery - Not test scores." Ted, uploaded by Sal Khan, Nov. 2015, www.ted.com/talks/sal_khan_let_s_teach_for_mastery_not_test_scores. Accessed 22 Nov. 2019.

"Our failing schools. Enough is enough!" Ted, uploaded by Geoffrey Canada, May 2013, www.ted.com/talks/geoffrey_canada_our_failing_schools_enough_is_enough. Accessed 22 Nov. 2019.