Pacing (with student comments in quotes)

The challenging presentations might just tune you up to a faster pace and more nimble way of thinking, and wouldn’t that be cool?

Very many people seem to grow from fearing the uncertainty or hating the challenge to enjoying it—or at least learning to keep up with the fast-paced discourse with occasional surprising plot twists and to think more nimbly on their toes.

“Early on it was difficult to understand what the important points were, but as I’ve gotten used to the format, they’ve become easier.” “Sometimes I would get lost in the slideshows, but besides that, he did a great job explaining the material.” The same person added “I learned a lot, and it was definitely not what I was expecting so that was really nice.” Some students even reflect on what the class taught them to overcome: “After a lot of confusion, I do feel like I gained a lot out of this class.”

I sometimes find that confusion is just part of the development of scholarship, a necessary part of reaching past what we understand to get at something new that we haven’t considered yet—or at least that’s what I try to tell them. I like when I can startle students into caring about material they thought they already had a firm grasp of.

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