Book Review-teach for the future
The book-Teach for the future-is about how flipped-classroom learning works and how it influences students learning attitude. It's written by Professor Yeh, an EE professor in NTU.
In 2010, Prof. Yeh was awarded the NTU best teaching skill prize(台大教學傑出獎). At that moment, he was so content and he deeply beleived in his flawless teaching skills. However, the day after that, several students nodded off during his class. He was so shocked at the fact that how those students could nod off in such interesting class. He didn't blame the students, on the other hand, he reflected on himself. He finally figured out that what students need is motivation. No matter how good he teaches, students wouldn't be eager to learn without motivation. To create learning motivation is an all-time goal for every teacher!
In one course, Prof. Yeh invented "BJT-online", an online game to replace traditional homework. He seperated students into groups. Each team designed problems and solved problems which designed by other teams. The team that solved the most problems wins. This method prevents homework copying and lets students understand textbook theories thoroughly.
Pro. Yeh was the first professor who ran presentation and expressing course(簡報製作與表達課) in NTU. He thought that most Taiwanese college students have professional know-hows, but lack of expressing skills. Furthermore, the final grades were given by primary school students, which was a very pioneering decision. And why did he do so? He mentioned that the most difficult presentation in the world is to present to those who are influential but ignorant.
Let's get back to the topic. The spirit of flipped-classroom is to learn by the student, assign by the student, grade by the student. Learning by the student is to cultivate the ability of building knowlege by oneself. Unlike traditional teachers, a teacher giving lectures, flipped-classroom teachers assign a problem and then encourage students to use any learning tool they could find to solve it. During the process, students may make mistakes, they may figure out by themselves, teachers can give little help as a guide. Afterward, teachers explain the problem, students would be more impressed when the a-ha moment strikes.
