A. A. Karim's Blog – January 2011 Archive (6)

A picture is worth a thousand words

Seeing is believing! In journalism, an image or picture can be so powerful that it can change the world! Jonathan Klein in his TED talk says that images themselves don't change the world but the images have provoked reactions in people, and those reactions have caused change to happen. The image can have a profound impact on our mind and can change our perception on certain issue and how we view things around us. Good image (photo) tells a visual narrative – it tells a story. A photograph has… Continue

Added by A. A. Karim on January 30, 2011 at 6:55am — No Comments

Optimizing Students' Learning

Maximizing the opportunities – that’s the keyword – and the key to good teaching. “I choose the word opportunities because that is all any teacher can provide for his or her students”, writes Doyle in his book (page 4). This reminds me of this idiom, “you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink”. I truly agree with his view on providing the environment to create learning opportunities that optimize students’ learning. Teachers are not only responsible to…

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Added by A. A. Karim on January 21, 2011 at 8:28pm — No Comments

How does students' prior knowledge affect their learning

This presentation is a summary of important points from the first chapter of the book "How Learning Works - 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching" by Ambrose and others. In Chapter 1 (How Does Students' Prior Knowledge Affect Their Learning) the authors discuss the importance of teachers to recognize that students bring with them prior knowledge acquired naturally through daily life activities or in prior courses they have studied. Some of the prior knowledge are relevant but some are… Continue

Added by A. A. Karim on January 18, 2011 at 1:16am — No Comments

Understanding How Learning Works

Constructivism, behaviorism, pedagody, andragogy, Bloom Taxonomy, student-centered learning...?? I must humbly admit that, after more than 16 years teaching, I didn’t know much about the various learning theories and pedagogical aspects of teaching-learning. I’m not trained as a teacher – I’m a food technologist. My only experience in teaching was teaching my friends and a short stint teaching in a private school (secondary level). Soon after I completed my Ph.D. in Food Technology, I came back… Continue

Added by A. A. Karim on January 14, 2011 at 8:54am — No Comments

21st century teaching - Is there a place for chalk and board?

Much has been written about integrating technology into a classroom. The question that is usually asked is, is it really necessary - is it really useful? In my opinion, the traditional approach of chalk and board still has its place but I strongly believe that educational technology could offer myriad of pedagogical benefits. Technology today, in various forms, have grown tremendously and have permeated all areas of our lives. Similarly, students today are connected in ways that previous… Continue

Added by A. A. Karim on January 12, 2011 at 8:30am — No Comments

Interact with your students with online poll

Have you heard about Poll Everywhere? Basically it is an online polling application that tries to simplify the process of holding polls. It allows anyone to participate in the polls by using either a simple text messaging system, email, or twitter - and it is free for up to 30 voting. I have tried this successfully recently. Read about my experience (… Continue

Added by A. A. Karim on January 8, 2011 at 7:26am — No Comments