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 teach content but also responsible to create opportunities for students to “learn how to learn”. Nobel laureate Herbert Simon put it this way: ‘‘The meaning of knowing has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it. The goal of education is better conceived as helping students develop the intellectual tools and learning strategies needed to acquire the knowledge necessary to think productively’’ (cited from Doyle).