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As a professor, I sometimes feel as though teaching is more about customer service than education. It is unfortunate.

dumbfounder 6y ago
There is a reason we don't just give people books and tell them to learn it themselves. Engaging, likable teachers help people learn. Swaying their sentiment with parlor tricks apparently helps gain favor, but the real question is, does this translate to them learning more?
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
  > Engaging, likable teachers help people learn. Maybe. Maybe it just gains favor and students don't worry about getting value from learning since they get value from the socializing.
- a_imho 6y ago
  There are multiple reasons, but efficiency is far down the list. Providing daycare is by far the most important duty of teachers nowadays.
shard 6y ago
Well education is a performance art, as I'm sure you know. Reading the crowd, encouraging discussion, providing motivation -- these are more about the student and their frames of mind / moods / personalities than about the material itself. It's analogous to the difference between a professionally cooked meal versus a glass of Soylent: both provide nutrients, but the professionally cooked meal is more enjoyable to consume.
- mjburgess 6y ago
  I agree that this is essential. But the issue here is more about what you're not doing. ie., yes, every lesson must be a performance. but it must also be a challenging one. learning is no a michael-bay movie, it is a stanely-kubric: a wonderful light show, yes -- but challenging, stressful, opaque -- and requiring your active participation. What happens when you use student evals as guides to effectiveness is that learning becomes less challenging. (as evidenced here: http://faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/scarrell/profqual2.pdf http://faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/scarrell/profqual2.p...) I work in high-end commercial education, where this effect -- to me -- is quite clear. But its less obvious how to deal with it. Customer satisfaction is more important than education, to selling education.
  - im3w1l 6y ago
    I recall reading from research on video games that people get an intrinsic joy from being challenged. Too hard and too easy challenges were both boring. The sweet spot was around 80% success rate. But alas I cannot find it now.

There is a reason we don't just give people books and tell them to learn it themselves. Engaging, likable teachers help people learn. Swaying their sentiment with parlor tricks apparently helps gain favor, but the real question is, does this translate to them learning more?

srtjstjsj 6y ago
> Engaging, likable teachers help people learn. Maybe. Maybe it just gains favor and students don't worry about getting value from learning since they get value from the socializing.
a_imho 6y ago
There are multiple reasons, but efficiency is far down the list. Providing daycare is by far the most important duty of teachers nowadays.

shard 6y ago

Well education is a performance art, as I'm sure you know. Reading the crowd, encouraging discussion, providing motivation -- these are more about the student and their frames of mind / moods / personalities than about the material itself. It's analogous to the difference between a professionally cooked meal versus a glass of Soylent: both provide nutrients, but the professionally cooked meal is more enjoyable to consume.

mjburgess 6y ago
I agree that this is essential. But the issue here is more about what you're not doing. ie., yes, every lesson must be a performance. but it must also be a challenging one. learning is no a michael-bay movie, it is a stanely-kubric: a wonderful light show, yes -- but challenging, stressful, opaque -- and requiring your active participation. What happens when you use student evals as guides to effectiveness is that learning becomes less challenging. (as evidenced here: http://faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/scarrell/profqual2.pdf http://faculty.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/scarrell/profqual2.p...) I work in high-end commercial education, where this effect -- to me -- is quite clear. But its less obvious how to deal with it. Customer satisfaction is more important than education, to selling education.
- im3w1l 6y ago
  I recall reading from research on video games that people get an intrinsic joy from being challenged. Too hard and too easy challenges were both boring. The sweet spot was around 80% success rate. But alas I cannot find it now.