Learning occurs when students take ownership of teaching materials to the point of being able to replicate, reverse engineer processes and results.
In my perspective, the ultimate tenet of learning acquisition supposes that things that are clearly understood can be expressed in very simplistic terms, can easily be compared, flipped around or reversed so as to be subjected to tests of consistency (vertical and horizontal).
It is obvious that the subject matter has to be substantial enough to be manipulated, yet sufficiently processed, and simplified enough to create value in learning it.
As a teacher, I try to facilitate the processing and simplification in four ways.
First, I create a very simplified atmosphere of knowledge transmission where uncertainty is reduced to the minimum. It requires a lot of preparation and planning to the smallest detail.
Second, I try and deliver in a clear and consistent way for students to believe that the material is easy or at least approachable.
Third, I attempt to ease students’ aggregation of knowledge by changing delivery methods: power points, half flipped sessions, mini cases, quizzes, excel comprehensive cases, and outright lectures.
Fourth I create a simple analytical and repetitive learning/assessment process which starts with quizzes, moves to homework and ends with exams. Materials are similar enough to place emphasis on the acquisition of analytical processes. The repetitive strategy gets most students to be at comparable level of preparation by the exam time. The mechanical aspect of the repetitive process creates room for including very challenging material in the assessment.
Such a plan is technologically onerous, however at the area of google, the role of the faculty member is pushed beyond authoritative delivery to simplifying, yet uncovering aspects of the material that the student would not have easily uncovered on his/her own.
On a good day, I leave my students excited about their own accomplishments in the classroom, excited about our discipline, and inspired on the possibilities of creating value for themselves, for corporations and for communities.
A good teacher accumulates a wealth of heuristics, but does not forget that good delivery is a student oriented art.