Transformative Teaching: The Value of Getting Undergraduate Students Out of the Classroom

The Marlowsphere (#18)

Three-time Pulitzer prize-winning columnist, author, and commentator Tom Friedman in his 2005 book The World Is Flat describes a world in which prospective employees—e.g., undergraduate students—are not just competing with peers locally, or with other prospective employees regionally or even nationally,  they are competing for jobs on an international scale!

If there’s anything true about the opening decades of the 21st century it’s that the world of work—heavily influenced by evolving information, communications, and transportation technologies—increasingly requires students to grapple with the demands of the world outside the classroom sooner, rather than later.

My last three blogs have dealt with “The Importance of Character in the Classroom,” especially with respect to the impact of technology, such as the Internet. Part of the solution, and this may seem anti-intuitive, is to get students away from the Internet and out of the classroom. There are simple ways in which coursework can be designed to require students to deal with the outside world that fosters a higher level of understanding and confidence.

Part of the core concept is to bring subject experts to the campus generally, and into the classroom specifically so that the outside world becomes more real. It is also about challenging students to research material outside the walls of the classroom and the academy itself so that they confront first-hand the realities of the work world.

It is ironic that today’s students have access to the outside world through the Internet—an electronic network with 24/7 global reach that in an instant can bring to a student information that is quite literally encyclopedic. I permit students to bring laptops into the classroom to take notes. Often I ask a question that students can answer by accessing the Internet. Instant learning indeed! But the Internet has shortcomings. The Internet precludes students from interacting with people directly, face-to-face, such as subject experts. Information on the Internet can be secondary or even tertiary. As I caution students, Wikipedia is a good place to start, but not to finish. Also, information gleaned from the Internet needs to be corroborated by several sources in order to ensure accuracy. In effect, I take a journalist’s approach to research.

Further, it is a fact that as of the end of 2011 only one-third of the world’s population had access to the Internet. All appearances to the contrary, students need to know that two-thirds of the world’s population does not have access. Even in theUnited States, Internet penetration is slightly less than 80%.

Almost universal Internet access in New York Cityhas created the impression among my students that everyone has access. Of course, this is a false impression. Also, one has to question the credibility and motivations of all those web sites and bloggers out there that purvey inaccurate information, slanted points of view, and incendiary attitudes for malevolent agendas.

The point is: allowing students to rely heavily on Internet gleaned information is permissible, but only in proper proportion to other sources of information.

The Research Bulls-Eye

I have found it invaluable for students to become familiar with the following other information sources: trade publications, professional and trade associations, government information resources, books, and, importantly, direct contact with subject experts. This is quite apart from initial research uses of the Internet, such as Wikipedia! I make these research resources requisite for final papers and presentations. In other words, I require students to explore other outside information sources as a way of expanding their perspectives, thinking, and world view.

I explain this to students as follows: the Internet is a good place to start and sometimes information on the Internet is the source. But research sources are like a bulls-eye. The Internet is the outside ring—a place to go in order to penetrate the inner rings and arrive at the center of the research bulls-eye.

The next inner ring is books. Books are valuable because it took an author time to think through the content and write the book. It takes times to edit, publish and market a book. To put this another way, often, but not always, the quality of a book’s content is supported by the passage of time.

The next inner ring includes government reports at the international, Federal, state, and local level. Every facet of government produces reports. In the United States the Library of Congress houses tens of thousands of reports (at taxpayer expense) just begging to be researched. It is a goldmine of information. The problem with government reports, however, is that they, too, take time to research, write, and publish. To a degree, once published some of the information may not be timely or may be obsolete. Still, all in all, this kind of information is valuable as it may be the latest available or for historical context.

The next inner ring includes trade and/or professional publications. The value here is that these publications are published sometimes daily, but more often weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. The content is specific to a particular profession or industry segment. It is more up-to-date.

The research bulls-eye, in my opinion, is the subject expert. These are the people in the trenches. They know what’s happening right now. These are the people who know immediately what the issues are, what the challenges are, what the problems are. I require students to interview at least two, preferably three subject experts for a final paper in some courses.

When students use all these outside informational sources sometimes the content they collect lines up neatly, sometimes not. Either way, students come away with a broader perspective and knowledge of a topic than before allowing them to compete more effectively in the ever-emerging global context.

Please write to me at meiienterprises@aol.com if you have any comments on this or any other of my blogs.

Eugene Marlow, Ph.D.
July 9, 2012

© Eugene Marlow 2012

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