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0 pointsnagrom16y ago0 comments

I don't believe that Maths or Physics can really be taught using the traditional lecture format. The lecture may suffice to run through the techniques of various proofs, or tell the student what he/she needs to learn. The only way really to learn these technical subjects is to sit down with a pencil and paper and do it through. The same is true for Computing Science. Until you run through the examples and derive/write things for yourself, you'll never truly understand them, regardless of the format of a lecture, or the capability of the teacher.

For what it's worth, I have a degree in Maths, a PhD in Physics and I am develop software for research purposes, when I don't teach - so I have some experience.

The best way for a student to learn these hard technical subjects is for them to sit with their colleagues and go through group exercises, alongside a lot of hard individual work. The teacher's job is merely to help them over the hurdles they have difficulty with, and to show them the things that are truly worth learning. Although I never went through it myself, I suspect that the Oxbridge system of having indiviual tutoring sessions in small groups as the basis of the teaching is probably perfect for these purposes.

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jlees16y ago

The Oxbridge system relies heavily on lectures to set the scene for the group supervisions though. You only get one or two hours of small group tuition per week per topic, so you need to make the most of it. The system generally goes: go to lectures to be introduced to the core concepts in play, have a sheet of 10-20 example questions to work on per week, bring as much of the questions as you can do to your supervision and go through the correct forms. In between we generally worked in peer groups to make sure we had enough to bring to the supervisions in the first place.

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