MS EXCEL - Can it do it??

I have been told by a lot of experts that MS excel is a very powerful tool when it comes to performing complex mathematical operations.

My own expertise in Excel is limited to adding up the grades of the student every semester and calculating the averages.

So I would like to use MS Excel to teach numerical techniques including differentiation & solving differential equations, perhaps even more.

The experts better be right!!

Teaching Engineering Mathematics: The new fashioned way

Traditionally mathematics at the higher end of the engineering matrix is still taught and assessed in the good old way. Pen, paper, whiteboard, etc etc.

I want to use technology in teaching (& not only assessing) at least one learning outcome.

My hypothesis is that the students will find this approach to be different and hopefully will enhance their learning experience.  

Re-Introduction

My fellow PGCTHEians

I must say it feels good to be back.

Module one was very informative and here's to hoping that module 2 is even more.

My brushes with educational technologies as an educator have been varied with sharepoint and BB vista being the usual suspects.

As a learner I also had interaction with on-line assessment and assignment submissions and accessing tutoring videos (from MIT) and course material.

Talking about "The Ten Fundamental Reasons for technology in education", I concur with all the reasons mentioned there. In my opinion the biggest benefit technology provides is the flexibility to a student's learning.

History of Education on Earth 101

My dear Martian Friend

Hope you and your green family are well. We are fine too. It’s been a bit warm since the last solar flare, but nothing beats Mercury in summers.

You asked me to describe the changes that have occurred in the educational system and environment, since your last visit here in 2011. Although I am not an expert but I will try to do my utmost.

On Earth, education has evolved tremendously in the last millennium. I have read in books that a long time ago we had various educational systems governed by various countries and each one thought their system was the best.

Fortunately it is not the same anymore so the students from Timbuktu to Tahiti and from Dubai to Dallas all study a very similar curriculum during their school years. Their assessments are also standardised throughout. This ensures uniformity in the material that is being delivered and the level of students joining higher education is almost the same.

This also means that there is no need for accreditations and evaluations in case a student wants to transfer from one institution to another, in any part of the world.

The students arriving at universities for higher education have all acquired competence in using computers, making all assessments to be online. The course material and resources along with the lectures are available online so the students can access them at any time of their convenience.

The course content and its assessment comprise mainly of case studies, design, application and research. Hence students only learn topics and material which are applicable in their practical life of the chosen discipline.

And lastly, education has been deemed as a necessity, like breathing oxygen (a pleasure to which, unfortunately, you are not privy to) and hence been made compulsory yet the costs are reduced to a minimum providing access to a multitude of students who historically did not have an opportunity to get in tertiary education.

That’s all from me for now. There are many other aspects I wanted to cover but more about them some other time.

Best wishes to everyone on the Red Planet

Archimedes' Principle revisited

We have all studied Archimedes' Principle in school. It has something to do with the displaced fluid and its weight, volume, buoyancy and so on. Boring stuff I know but an important topic covered in college physics and a topic that I had to cover for my class.

I decided to try a different approach and instead of expecting the students to remember all the terms mentioned above and making sense out of them I asked them to perform the same experiment Archimedes had done about 2222 years ago and see if helps them to understand the concept.

The feedback I received was phenomenal as it somehow clicked for most of them. The students could see science in action. Somehow conducting experiments in labs or watching presentations or youtube videos are never as satisfying as learning in a bath tub!!

Understanding won 6-0 against memorising.   

Learning theory

Values

Totally prepared and a full effort in the classroom

Being polite, jovial yet firm to gain the attention and respect

Setting realistic goals about my expectations from the students

Teaching concepts using real life examples scenarios and applications

Beliefs

Learning being a two way process. Something to the effect of willing buyer willing seller.

I do not know everything!! Hence strive to learn more.

The just reward of learning is knowledge not a grade.

Metaphor

Teaching is like tossing a salad.

All the veggies in the salad have their own identity and although they will retain their shape and size they must acquire some of the taste that the dressing, seasoning and condiments have to offer.

I need to make sure the dressing smears all the cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and even the hard-to-completely-smear lettuce.

As per Pareto’s principle 20% of my effort tosses 80% of my salad but I should put in the rest of the effort in to make sure it all gets tossed evenly.

My most memorable learning experience

I studied a semester, as an exchange student, at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. The time spent there counts as my most unforgettable learning experience.

Reasons, you ask??

Well for starters the whole idea of studying overseas was just too awesome. Having fellow students from all over the world and the urge to prove my mettle amongst this group really made me work hard.

Secondly, the “modus operandi” of the university in general and the professors in particular was very conducive for self study and it let the students find the potential, rather than the “run of the mill” method of teaching used at my university in SA.

My fellow students and I used our weekends to do a lot of sightseeing, initially around Germany and later into neighbouring countries. These trips made us trust and help each other in sticky situations. This camaraderie also found its way in our studies too where we would help each other with lots of group studying taking place.

And lastly the amount of fun I had with all these newly found friends was just overwhelming. I helped me to loosen up and take things in my stride. I had been a very nervous student all my life but during those few months I learned how to relax and spent my energy in the right path.

Nostalgia is killing me....................