Capítulo 3952: Chapter 3066: Mercury's Chronicles (16)
The foundational psychology course taught by Shiller was the longest he has ever taught at Gotham University. Due to a shortage of psychology professors and the insufficient level of some students who stayed on to teach, Shiller couldn't focus solely on supervising master's and doctoral students. He had to teach undergraduate courses, from the introductory to advanced level. When he spoke of working 40 hours a week, he literally meant lecturing for 40 hours.
But there were also benefits. For the introductory course in foundational psychology, he could teach it with his eyes closed. So-called lesson planning was nothing more than making slight modifications to the undergraduate lesson plans; the bulk of the content remained unchanged.
Foundational psychology was relatively dry, with the first few classes discussing various definitions. After that, the content was primarily introduced through various psychology masters and the developmental history of psychology. At Gotham University, this stage would likely take 10-12 class periods to complete.
Of these, the first 5 class periods were for memorization, the following 5-7 class periods for group discussions and presentations, and then there would be 1-2 field practice classes, which meant conducting street surveys.
After arriving on Mercury and teaching just two classes, Shiller realized that allocating 5 class periods to memorization underestimated the students. They had memorized all the key points from his first two lectures in their own time, so there was no need to repeat them. This part was condensed to around 3 class periods.
In other words, by the end of today's morning class, the definition consolidation and memorization portion had already concluded.
Shiller was in his office contemplating how to arrange the upcoming group discussion and presentation periods.
While at Gotham University, Shiller's teaching style was by the book because merely supervising memorization and requiring them to complete presentations was challenging enough.
All around the world, universities share a common phenomenon: a huge gap between the highest and lowest achieving students. Professors cannot afford to spend too much time spurring on underachieving students, which complicates advancing the curriculum.
They can't let the top students fall too far behind, nor can they completely ignore those who choose not to study, all while keeping up with the learning pace of the vast majority of average students. Thus, every time Shiller led a group activity, it was both painstaking and ineffective.
As a result, he wrote numerous reports requesting new undergraduate teaching staff so that he could focus on supervising graduate and doctoral students. Unfortunately, during Gotham's tough times, no one wanted to come, and just when things were getting better, the economic crisis hit, and the school couldn't afford new hires.
It could be said that for over a decade, Shiller alone upheld the psychology department at Gotham University.
Sitting in his office, Shiller was also struggling with how to plan the group activity classes for these students.
Theoretically, since they memorized so quickly, group courses should be a breeze, but if it turned out they were only quick at memorization and fell short in social and work coordination skills, then planning too tight a curriculum could easily lead to problems.
In the two classes that Shiller had taught, he had stuck to the textbook, and the students were busy taking notes with their heads down, barely interacting with each other. So, if Shiller wanted to understand the students' social skills, he would have to inquire with other professors.
Naturally, Shiller first sought out Oliver, who was closest to him. Conveniently, Oliver's military course also required students to be divided into different factions for war game simulations, an activity that could best reflect comprehensive abilities.
After hearing Shiller's doubts, Oliver thought carefully before saying, "I think you have to emphasize one requirement: that each group must have people of all different races, meaning you need not only Amazon warriors and Atlanteans but also humans, and preferably aliens or other superheroes as well."
"Because if you don't do this, they'll be more inclined to team up with their own race, forming tight cliques, which won't achieve the purpose of exercising their social skills and might also easily lead to conflicts between races."
"Won't dividing them into groups do the same?" Shiller asked.
"It at least creates balance," Oliver replied. "Of course, you'd best also stipulate that a group can only have one member of the same race, to prevent them from bullying those in the minority."
Shiller felt a headache coming on. Gotham University hardly had issues with racial discrimination. In fact, racial discrimination was not much of an issue in Gotham at all. Skin color wasn't a major problem here; under the muzzle of a gun, everyone was equal.
So, Shiller didn't have much experience in mediating racial conflicts, and he hadn't had students brazen enough to bring conflicts to his attention.
But he realized that it would be strange if there were no conflicts when groups of different races with completely different living habits, environments, educational backgrounds, and even physical structures, came together.
Therefore, the planning for group discussion periods was especially important. If the situation Oliver described occurred, with races sticking together, the classroom effect would be disastrous.
The analogy wasn't quite accurate, but it was somewhat like the Emperor and his subjects. If the Emperor allowed his ministers to form cliques, his leadership would be replaced by internal opinion leaders, and if he couldn't control them, subsequent teaching work would be very difficult.
Shiller couldn't rely on physical force now, partially because he didn't have an umbrella, and also because he wasn't in the best physical condition.
He couldn't use the method of calling parents, which was common during his time with the Gotham Gang. Diana, Arthur, and Oliver weren't exactly leaders of these races, their demands didn't carry the weight of enforcement; at most, they could offer suggestions but not impose sanctions, and their deterrence to these people was greatly reduced.
Moreover, Shiller couldn't take the moral high ground because these students were much more excellent than those at Gotham University. They completed their learning tasks flawlessly, and without students making mistakes, Shiller wasn't one to seek out issues just to scold them.
So, to lead the group discussion class effectively, Shiller really had to bring his A-game.
After chatting with Oliver, Shiller went to find Clark, who was also working on his lesson plans. His plans were much more complex, involving half a day just to look up information. Fortunately, he was Kryptonian, and being close to the sun here, a five-minute charge could last for days. Had it been anyone else, they might not have been able to handle the workload.
Still, the strong coffee on his desk never ran out. When Shiller walked in, Clark, without lifting his head, said, "If you have questions, email me. Describe the problem clearly, and I'll reply within 24 hours."
"My question might not be clear in an email, Clark. How are you holding up?"
"Oh my God, Professor."
"You're a professor now too, has anyone called you Professor Kent?"
Clark smiled brightly as he stood up to pour Shiller some coffee, and he said, "They always call me that, it makes me feel awkward, but I'm starting to understand you now, Professor, it feels really good to be a role model."
Shiller also smiled and sat down, saying, "I know you're busy, so I'll try to keep it short. After so many classes, what's your opinion on these races? Who are the standouts among them?"
"Well..." Clark drew out the word, then said, "Actually, I think pretty highly of them; they are a group of smart and dynamic kids."
"Some of them are much older than you."
"It's not about age, Professor, it's about mental age, isn't it? The girls from the Amazons might live long lives, but they've only been integrated into society for a few years, spending the rest of their time training on a deserted island, so their mental age is similar to that of teenage girls."
"There are superheroes who came from other planets, who've wandered the cosmos for quite a while and have seen plenty, but the development of their bodies and spirits is slower than that of the short-lived races, with a mental age of just over 20."
"You don't think they should be treated as adults?"
"They are far from mature," Clark said, shaking his head. "Among these races, it's actually humans who are the most mature, especially the kids from Mexico. The poverty and riots at home have made them far more mature than their peers."
"What about the Atlanteans?"
"They have a lot of strange ideas." Clark laughed as he spoke, "Their way of thinking doesn't align with humans, but they're always full of inspiration and are proactive. If you interact with them more, you'll find they're actually quite likable."
"When do you plan to start group discussions?"
Clark was slightly taken aback and said, "Group discussions? Is there anything they could discuss?"
"No, Clark, it's not about them coming up with something to discuss, but there has to be a process of discussion, instead of them just receiving knowledge from a professor."
"Why is that?" Clark asked.
Shiller sighed. He suddenly realized he had overlooked a major problem: these professors weren't formally trained, and it seemed they were still planning their courses based on their own ideas.
"Because only receiving one type of education for a long time can lead to cognitive inertness and create rigid thinking. If knowledge is only obtained from teachers in a school, we usually call this spoon-feeding education."
"To avoid this phenomenon, the educational methods during the course progression need to be diversified, like organizing group discussions, social practice, home experiments, etc., to involve family education and social education, ensuring that the students' way of thinking remains active to the greatest extent."
Clark scratched his head and said, "I've already given them three classes, and I think they are learning quite well."
"Have you finished the first part of the theoretical knowledge?"
"It should be almost done, I've introduced quite a lot."
"Can I see your lesson plan?"
Clark rummaged and pulled out a stack of papers. As soon as Shiller looked at them, he frowned; the content was alright, but this wasn't a lesson plan. It just included the knowledge and the way Clark planned to convey it, without any mention of the students.
Those with teaching experience or who have passed a teacher certification exam know that the biggest difference between writing a paper and a lesson plan is that a paper only needs to revolve around knowledge, whereas a lesson plan must focus on the students, and the list of knowledge is meant to guide the students.
Shiller sighed and reluctantly wanted to speak up but didn't know where to start. He asked, "Hasn't Diana mentioned having group discussions to you?"
Clark shook his head and said, "She's a physical education teacher, should there be discussions in PE too?"
"There should also be group activities, including group exercises and team matches. Haven't you organized any social practices?"
"We're on Mercury now, where can we do any practice?"
Shiller let out a deep sigh and said, "Even though we're on Mercury, we're not cut off from the internet. It's entirely possible to do virtual practice, or to have video calls with their relatives and friends."
Shiller put down the stack of lesson plans and said, "How about this, tonight at nine o'clock, let's take two hours for a teaching workshop. I'll send an email to you."
Presentes
-- Presente
recebido Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder