September’s here, so It’s back to the blackboard, chalk, and workbooks. Or maybe not; over the past few years, teaching innovations in elementary, high schools, and even university and graduate programs are shifting the face of education to a multi-faceted one. Here are a few unique approaches to the three Rs:
Time to get down with history and civics?street style. Fresh Prep, an innovative approach to standardized test preparation, uses hip hop music to teach high school students history and civics as well as the vocabulary they’ll need to take the tests. The New York Times has the details; you can also listen to a sampling on the Fresh Prep site.
Think med school is all about science and technology? Think again. According to professors at medical schools like Harvard and Boston University, ?Fluidity of thought and getting comfortable with ambiguity? are skills that med students will need when working in the medical field someday. As this Boston Public Radio story discusses, Harvard Medical School attempts to fill this gap by immersing med students in fine art in order to help them create a more integrated approach to diagnoses.
Lecture-style mega-classes at universities have been the butt of jokes, comedy sketches, and film plots for decades. Sitting in a giant hall while a professor drones on about core curriculum means the chance to text friends across the room or catch up on sleep. Not so at MIT, which a few years ago adopted a different model in some of the freshman classes. Instead of using a traditional style, professors organized the room into small groups of students and circulated the hall, teaching and guiding with the help of assistants and smart board technology.