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As an instructor I have the opposite problem. How can I encourage students to say “I don’t understand”?

• ihsw 14y ago
  Make a personal plea at the beginning of your semester stating that it's okay to say "I don't understand," and that even instructors say that often enough. Make it clear that struggling is a perfectly normal factor of life -- in fact one could argue that intelligence is a measurement of someone's history of struggling. One could even go so far that the top 5% of any class are simply people who have 'struggled' the most, or more to the point people who have stumbled (and overcome it) the most. Here is an excellent article researching teaching methods in Japan: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/12/164793058/struggle-for-smarts-how-eastern-and-western-cultures-tackle-learning http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/12/164793058/struggl...
  • teffen 14y ago
    That was a really interesting article. I've been praised for my knowledge but was always a slacker in school. It seems that praising effort has a great impact on motivation.
• jonsen 14y ago
  I once had a teacher who would ask: "Who got that?" And then pick one of those not raising their hand: "What did you not understand?"