Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Approaches to course delivery tend to rest on the assumption that the most effective ways to deliver courses exist in lectures and written essays or examination. Despite increasing empirical evidence in favor of instruction innovations such as flipped classrooms and variation in assignments, many faculty resist such innovations on the grounds of tradition, biases, or their own neurological differences. This chapter presents these dynamics and strength-based approaches to instruction more attuned to neuroethical concerns.

Shawna finds a seat in the crowded, stadium style auditorium of her anthropology class, on all of the desks lays a ten-page syllabi. Internally, she debates if she even likes anthropology. On the third page, she sees a semester-long assignment to be done on her own and her heart starts to pound. She has never done well on assignments similar to this in the past. The professor walks in, introduces herself, and lets the class of 73 know that it is a lecture-based course and exhaustive notes will be required to pass any one of the five essay exams. Shawna’s palms start to sweat because her note taking skills have always been lacking. Her leg nervously shakes as she considers that she learns better when she can engage in open dialogue with her peers and professors. A knot builds in her stomach. She contemplates how much grief she would suffer from her father over withdrawing from yet another anthropology course.

Down the hall, Travis sits in a sociology course. Where Travis grew up, the population was heavily influenced by Native American culture. There were more than a dozen tribes, and seven reservations in his state; here, there are two tribes and he feels like the expert on the culture in his college courses. He is exasperated that the US history class he took last semester overlooked the colonial impact on the Native Americans during westward expansion. He feels his peers are just as ignorant as the professors, especially when they ask if he is “from here.” Travis absorbs information best in group settings, and most of the courses he has taken so far require him to work alone. He rolls his eyes as he looks over the syllabus for this course; it is the same as the others. He recognizes at this point in his academic career that he retains information from observations and demonstrations, like his required science labs. This class is lecture-based, has three papers, tons of reading, and is laden with quizzes—Travis knows this is going to be a long semester.—Jubilee Belle Lawhead