[Cadre-politics] [Fwd: SIGCSE-Carrots, Sticks, and women?...Inductive vs Deductive Teaching

Mon Nov 26 16:08:50 EST 2007

very interesting thread fragment forwarded by Bob Lechner.

I'd never heard of "deductive" vs 'inductive" teaching.

For what it is worth, IMNSHO most good "supervision" is inductive 
teaching.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: SIGCSE-Carrots, Sticks, and women?...Inductive vs 
Deductive Teaching (FYInfoDan)
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:04:57 -0500 (EST)
From: Bob Lechner <lechner at cs.uml.edu>
To: dan at thecsl.org (Dan MacNeil)
CC: lechner at cs.uml.edu (Bob Lechner)

Forwarded message:
> From: Dorothy Deremer <deremerd at MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>
> Subject: [SIGCSE-members] Carrots, Sticks, and women?  .. Inductive vs Deductive Teaching
> To: SIGCSE-members at LISTSERV.ACM.ORG
> Hello,
> 
> Maybe the topics are not as important as the teaching approach.  Note the
> following research based information on inductive teaching.
> 
> Dorothy Deremer
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:        TP Msg. #829 The Case for Inductive Teaching
> Date:   Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:18:54 -0800
> From:   Rick Reis <reis at stanford.edu>
> To:     tomorrows-professor at mailman.stanford.edu
> 
> The Case for Inductive Teaching
> 
> Richard Felder and Michael Prince
> 
> Students can engage in active problem-solving even before they
> master theories and equations. ..
> 
> An analysis of the literature suggests that there are sometimes
> good reasons to "teach backwards" by introducing students to
> complex and realistic problems before exposing them to the
> relevant theory and equations. A broad range of inductive
> teaching methods, such as inquiry-based learning, problem-based
> learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching and
> just-in-time teaching, do just that. What inductive methods
> have in common is that students are presented with a challenge
> and then learn what they need to know to address that challenge.
> The methods differ in the nature and scope of the challenge and
> in the amount of guidance students receive from their instructor
> as they attempt to complete their tasks.
> 
> Inductive approaches have many other features in common, all of
> which are well grounded in educational theory and widely supported
> by empirical studies. Inductive methods are all student-centered,
> meaning that they impose more responsibility on students for
> their own learning than the traditional lecture-based deductive
> approach does. They can all be characterized as constructivist
> methods, building on the widely accepted principle that students
> construct their own versions of reality rather than simply absorbing
> versions presented by their teachers. The methods almost always
> involve students discussing questions and solving problems in class
>  (active learning), with much of the work in and out of class being
> done by students in groups (collaborative or cooperative learning).
> 
> 
> Of course, the most relevant question from the standpoint of classroom
> instructors is, "Do these methods work?" In a word, yes. While the
> quality of research data supporting the different inductive methods
> is variable, the collective evidence favoring inductive over traditional,
> deductive pedagogy is conclusive. Inductive methods promote students'
> adoption of a deep (meaning-oriented) approach to learning, as opposed
> to a surface (memorization-intensive) approach. They promote intellectual
> development, challenging the dualistic type of thinking that characterizes
> many entering college students, which holds that all knowledge is certain,
> professors have it and the task of students is to absorb and repeat it.
> And they help students acquire the critical thinking and self-directed
> learning skills that characterize expert scientists and engineers.
> 
> This is not to say, however, that simply adopting an inductive method
> will automatically lead to better learning and more satisfied students.
> As with any form of instruction, inductive teaching can be done well
> or poorly, and the outcomes that result from it are only as good as
> the skill and care with which it is implemented. Many students are
> resistant to any type of instruction that makes them more responsible
> for their own learning. Instructors who set out to implement an inductive
> method should therefore first familiarize themselves with best practices
> in using the method, such as providing adequate scaffolding-extensive
> support and guidance when students are first introduced to the method
> and gradual withdrawal of support as students gain more experience and
> confidence in its use. They should also anticipate some student resistance
> to the method and be aware of effective strategies for defusing it. If
> these precautions are taken, both the students and the instructor shou
> ld soon start seeing the positive outcomes promised by the research.
> 
> 
> Adapted from July 2007 JEE article Technical Coordination in
> Engineering Practice.
> 
> Richard M. Felder is Hoechst Celanese Professor Emeritus of Chemical
> Engineering at North Carolina State University. Michael Prince is a
> professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Bucknell
> University. This article is adapted from "Inductive Teaching and
> Learning Methods: Definitions, Comparisons, and Research Bases"
> in JEE (April 2006, vol. 95, no. 2), and "The Many Faces of Inductive
> Teaching and Learning" in the Journal of College Science Teaching.
> 
> 
> --
> Dr. Dorothy Deremer, Chairperson
> Department of Computer Science
> Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043
> http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~deremer/
> email: deremerd at montclair.edu
> phone: 973.655.4166 fax: 973.655.4164
> CSwebpage:http://cs.montclair.edu
> --
###################

Forwarded message:
 > > From owner-sigcse-members at LISTSERV.ACM.ORG  Mon Nov 26 
13:02:19 2007
 > > Sender: SIGCSE Member Forum <SIGCSE-members at LISTSERV.ACM.ORG>
 > > From: "Guzdial, Mark" <guzdial at CC.GATECH.EDU>
 > > Subject: Re: [SIGCSE-members] Carrots, Sticks, and women? 
.. Inductive vs Deductive Teaching
 > > To: SIGCSE-members at LISTSERV.ACM.ORG
 > >
 > > Excellent! Thanks for sharing this, Dorothy!
 > >
 > > I agree with the claim.  I've not heard it called "inductive 
teaching" =
 > > before.  The idea meshes well with our notions of 
contextualized =
 > > computing education -- teaching computer science within a 
context that =
 > > students perceive as relevant.  Certainly, the idea is to 
start with a =
 > > larger problem (like robots exploring dangerous places for 
scientists, =
 > > or understanding how Photoshop works, or what one can learn 
from =
 > > analyzing a Facebook friends network) and then to teach the 
computer =
 > > science that enables that exploration.
 > >
 > > There are several schools exploring this idea:
 > > - Here at Georgia Tech, we have an Engineering CS1 that uses 
MATLAB and =
 > > engineering problems for its context.  We also have the Media =
 > > Computation courses 
(http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-teach), where =
 > > we teaching computing mostly to non-majors in the context of 
how digital =
 > > media is manipulated (e.g., we'll show scenes from "The 
Making of 'The =
 > > Matrix'" then actually code chromakey and make a movie with 
it).  In =
 > > courses of over 300, we have an average success rate of 85%, 
and on =
 > > average, the courses are majority female.  The 
MediaComp-teach website =
 > > includes reports (several published) from several other 
schools showing =
 > > improved retention and attitudes toward CS in a 
contextualized approach. =
 > > =20
 > >
 > > - At Bryn-Mawr, they're using computer games and robotics =
 > > (http://www.roboteducation.org) as their contexts.  The 
students are =
 > > doing amazing things in their robot classes, from exploring 
a pyramid to =
 > > putting on a peacebot demonstration.
 > >
 > > - At Duke, they're using analysis of social networks as a 
compelling =
 > > context, with graph theory showing up early (a 
"graphs-early" approach?) =
 > > because it's concrete and natural when you're analyzing 
Facebook friends =
 > > networks.  Owen Astrachan's planned work for his recent CPATH =
 > > Distinguished Educator Fellowship is exploring the value of =
 > > problem-based learning (cited in your article, Dorothy, as 
an example of =
 > > an inductive approach) in CS Education.
 > >
 > > We have growing evidence that Felder's claims are true for 
CS, too.
 > >
 > > Mark