It’s bad. I shudder at the thought of these students being teachers. Most can’t speak or write English. Worse yet, they’ll teach the way they’ve been taught which means we’re back-pedalling into hell.
I was horrified to see that their “methodology” course covers 4 entire semesters. It’s like teaching the techniques of brain surgery to those who haven’t learned what an internal organ is. Most young people learn from example, but I haven’t seen much evidence of reliable modelling even with 4 semesters of theory.
The current international trend in “student-centered learning” came as a welcome laxative to “overworked” teachers. It meant you could turn on a video and leave the classroom. In Laos where there are usually no videos, every exit from the classroom is justified as “self-study”. I do my rounds to try to scoop up the mess of bewildered students.
When students are left to graze on their own, they find there is no grass. Then, they suspect that what they’ve been told to forage for something that’s not digestible anyway. In order to get points and pass the tests, the most sensible thing to do is to copy and cheat.
I can correct 50 “essays” in five minutes because many students don’t bother to change the font when they copy from the Internet. Those who hand copy don’t bother to change a word, so it’s an easy game of pairing the original with the copy. The copier’s writing is sloppy and there are more misspelled words. Some just pay others to do the work.
In terms of cheating, it’s a lost cause with 50 students crammed into a classroom. I have to make two versions of a quiz and that’s how I get entertaining results like, “Have you ever eaten Vientiane?” or “Have you ever been to a goat?" Now, I do two rounds, one student to a desk. When time is called, students have 10 seconds to run and put their papers in my bag. Otherwise, 15 seconds is enough to copy an entire quiz.
Cheating goes down and scores go up. That’s interesting. The daily average is posted and I’ve seen the bottom-line seep into students’ consciousness one-by-one. It’s pass or fail and it all depends on individual effort.
One student who got zeros on tests could now recite by memory two pages of lessons. He said another student drilled him. I also found out that it only took five minutes or practice.
Like the earth spinning, it would take a tremendous effort to change directions. On the other hand, I’ve confirmed that the solutions and potential are there. When will people understand that if you want to go forward, you don’t pedal backwards?
I was horrified to see that their “methodology” course covers 4 entire semesters. It’s like teaching the techniques of brain surgery to those who haven’t learned what an internal organ is. Most young people learn from example, but I haven’t seen much evidence of reliable modelling even with 4 semesters of theory.
The current international trend in “student-centered learning” came as a welcome laxative to “overworked” teachers. It meant you could turn on a video and leave the classroom. In Laos where there are usually no videos, every exit from the classroom is justified as “self-study”. I do my rounds to try to scoop up the mess of bewildered students.
When students are left to graze on their own, they find there is no grass. Then, they suspect that what they’ve been told to forage for something that’s not digestible anyway. In order to get points and pass the tests, the most sensible thing to do is to copy and cheat.
I can correct 50 “essays” in five minutes because many students don’t bother to change the font when they copy from the Internet. Those who hand copy don’t bother to change a word, so it’s an easy game of pairing the original with the copy. The copier’s writing is sloppy and there are more misspelled words. Some just pay others to do the work.
In terms of cheating, it’s a lost cause with 50 students crammed into a classroom. I have to make two versions of a quiz and that’s how I get entertaining results like, “Have you ever eaten Vientiane?” or “Have you ever been to a goat?" Now, I do two rounds, one student to a desk. When time is called, students have 10 seconds to run and put their papers in my bag. Otherwise, 15 seconds is enough to copy an entire quiz.
Cheating goes down and scores go up. That’s interesting. The daily average is posted and I’ve seen the bottom-line seep into students’ consciousness one-by-one. It’s pass or fail and it all depends on individual effort.
One student who got zeros on tests could now recite by memory two pages of lessons. He said another student drilled him. I also found out that it only took five minutes or practice.
Like the earth spinning, it would take a tremendous effort to change directions. On the other hand, I’ve confirmed that the solutions and potential are there. When will people understand that if you want to go forward, you don’t pedal backwards?
