According to recent research, students learn best through distraction, ignorance, interruption, and frequent quitting. This may sound like nonsense on stilts. But according to New York Times science writer Benedict Carey (pictured), successful pedagogy will benefit from such counter-intuitive wisdom. Have a peek at this two-page summation of Carey’s book How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why it Happens, provided on the website of the Teaching and Learning Collaborative. The site offers an array of tips on classroom technology, podcasts on active learning, and other quick ideas for amplifying the impact of teaching: https://sites.up.edu/tl/.
For more information contact Lars Erik Larson, English, at larson@up.edu.