Do you think classroom teaching of purely theoretical subjects is outdated?

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For example, if I wanted to learn the theory behind how a P-N junction diode works (or anything akin to that), personally, a Khan Academy video (or something similar) would be a lot more useful in many ways than listening to a professor teach the same stuff in class. I could rewind my video, pause it etc. at my convenience.

That being said, teachers/professors should be there to clear conceptual difficulties (if I've already watched the video and didn't understand something, I could ask my prof.), to clear doubts and teach/assist in lab work and experiments (where human guidance and intervention are needed).

What say you?
 
I find a good prof is far more interesting and illustrative than a typical instructional video, which tends to be very straitjacketed and manual-like. He can make the subject fun, and that is their role.

Maybe I had excellent teachers. I'll never forget my lesson on planets in 3rd grade, or prismatic diffraction in 7th, or even differential equations a few years later. I just loved learning concepts from people who loved to teach.
 
Yep trouble is that most folks with an aptitude for teaching land up in a job that has no teaching to do. Like it or not, unfortunately university professors are very poorly paid in India. Until the pay scales get slightly more lucrative, very few will actually take that as a profession. It is the unfortunate truth.

As a result the folks that end up in teaching (barring a few select institutions) are either bottom of the barrel or have no interest in teaching whatsoever.

I had the fortune of having some stellar professors during my undergrad and grad studies. However everyone is not so lucky.
 
cranky said:
I find a good prof is far more interesting and illustrative than a typical instructional video, which tends to be very straitjacketed and manual-like.
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Well, that's your subjective opinion but I beg to differ. I think some of the teachers in these videos are far more interesting and illustrative than most of the teachers we ordinarily get and they make the subject fun too. Yes, a GOOD professor maybe fun to listen to but that's not a point in favour of classroom teaching being superior (which again is a matter of subjectivity anyway because some people might prefer one over the other).
 
The last time I entered a classroom was over twenty years ago. Profs had quality then. Factor that into my reply.

Teaching takes two people, a teacher, and a student. The learning process is the process of interaction between the two, and the PASSING of the subject between the two. It is not about the subject, or the text of the subject. Conceptual learning is not an exercise that is very fruitful if you do it by rote. It is possible to learn a concept by repetition, but it is much easier to absorb any concept when it is discussed, played with, and applied in few cases. This helps in better absorption of the concept.

The video has no dialogue, no interaction and no joy of learning. It's not fun for fun's sake. Being chatty does not make theoretical concepts interesting. Being able to explain the concept and customise it for each student, cross-referencing, and Q&A all help tremendously. None of this exists in videos.

If however, they are still better than the teachers of today, I am really worried about your generation.
 
Depends on what subject you're studying. One cannot do the same with a language class, or Philosophy.
 
cranky said:
The last time I entered a classroom was over twenty years ago. Profs had quality then. Factor that into my reply.

Teaching takes two people, a teacher, and a student. The learning process is the process of interaction between the two, and the PASSING of the subject between the two. It is not about the subject, or the text of the subject. Conceptual learning is not an exercise that is very fruitful if you do it by rote. It is possible to learn a concept by repetition, but it is much easier to absorb any concept when it is discussed, played with, and applied in few cases. This helps in better absorption of the concept.

The video has no dialogue, no interaction and no joy of learning. It's not fun for fun's sake. Being chatty does not make theoretical concepts interesting. Being able to explain the concept and customise it for each student, cross-referencing, and Q&A all help tremendously. None of this exists in videos.

If however, they are still better than the teachers of today, I am really worried about your generation.
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What are you talking about ? I take it you've never seen a good video on a particular subject. They explain things in a detailed manner covering many intricate details that teachers often miss in class. There is tremendous joy in learning many things through these videos (this is again a subjective thing). There's obviously a sort of interaction between two people even if it isn't face to face.

Also, concepts are discussed, played with and applied in many cases. The other thing is, this is not necessarily a replacement for classroom teaching (although it can be in many cases) but is certainly a good supplement. Cross-referencing, Q&A etc. are exactly why we should not completely do away with teachers. I am all for discussing concepts with peers and teachers.

Many of these online teaching supplements have additional software, assignments and stuff to make them more holistic and interactive.

Conceptual teaching should NOT be done by wrote and I agree with that but online teaching as a supplement takes away nothing from conceptual learning in anyway. In fact, in many cases these people explain concepts BETTER than your average teacher.

I suggest you take a look at Flip Teaching

To quote someone on another forum, "Bringing people to a central location for teaching made sense in the age of books, it makes no sense in the age of networks. Arguments can be made against network teaching due to it not being everyone's preference, but we have that now."
 
blkrb0t said:
Depends on what subject you're studying. One cannot do the same with a language class, or Philosophy.
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Yes, it depends on the subject matter at hand. That being said, I would rather watch video lectures to learn basic electronics than hear my prof. drone about them. If I have queries later, I can always ask him.
 
Most of the time, the teachers are the driving force behind students going through and studying the theoretical parts of the subjects.

Without something to drive them towards the theory, students would most likely and conveniently skip the process and will directly concentrate on the practical stuff.

And this will mean trying to fly without learning to walk.
While the usual process would be to get the balance, then walk, then run, then sprint, then fly.
If people start following it the reverse way then we would have people with a shallow and hollow education.

Also studying the theory of a subject from only one's own point of view may limit the learning process.
A teacher is much more experienced and can easily guide the students towards the finer points of theory which might be very easy for a new student to miss.
A student can study a new subject but it might not always be possible for him to interpret it correctly and apply the theory to practical stuff as well.
 
kestrel5915 said:
Most of the time, the teachers are the driving force behind students going through and studying the theoretical parts of the subjects.

Without something to drive them towards the theory, students would most likely and conveniently skip the process and will directly concentrate on the practical
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Nope. It is the system that drives students to learn. The fact that you have to do assignments and clear exams/courses to get a degree. Any sensible student would try to educate himself/herself in a holistic way. Which is learning both the theoretical and practical aspects of a subject because at the end of the day it is an amalgamation of both that you need in order to be good at what you do and to learn things properly.
 
Class room teaching is better any day but that's only if the teacher is knowledgeable and is skilled at teaching. Moreover not everyone's interested in learning a subject in depth, most people just study stuff for an exam without wanting to know the complete working. Ergo the teachers don't care much either.
 
Videos are one way - as simple as that. Its more of a one fits all solution which obviously wouldn't work one most of the people unless the objective of studying is only getting marks. Although it is true that the latest gen of teachers / prof lack the competence and/or willingness to help students.
 
cranky said:
You have my fullest sympathies. You must have terrible teachers.
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It's the same across majority of institutes. As someone mentioned earlier, most of these "teachers" are paid very less and are people who take this up as their last career choice. You can see that when they try to teach. They are disinterested and very narrow-minded with respect to the content they teach.

I've had "teachers" come and announce in the classroom that they are not that well-versed with the subject and that we would be pretty much on our own. Not joking. Also, one of them sitting after class, understanding C++ programs from some of the serious students in the class. And no, this was not a collaborative exercise. She didn't know programming and was trying to understand the logic behind the programs she had learned by rote.

I can totally understand what you are trying to say though. I've had some wonderful and inspiring teachers in my schooling years. They inculcated a knowledge for science in me and a general curiosity about things. However, when I entered college, it all changed. Worst years of my life, if I consider the teaching experience.
 
cranky said:
You have my fullest sympathies. You must have terrible teachers.
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Yes, thanks for your sympathy (although it's practically useless). *Some* of my teachers, infact, ARE terrible (and this includes every damn college in the country whether it's an unknown road-side college or IIT or AIIMS or some other top college, and I have people in my family who have studied at many of these institutions). That is exactly the reason why online teaching is a good thing in many cases (and not all). It's a good supplement (or in some cases a good first way to teach).
 
Let's have a car analogy here.

Learning in an institute is like learning to drive in a driving school. But learning online is like using a simulator. The end goal is to learn how to drive. Likewise, you can also learn on your own.
 
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