Department of Physics

Ryerson University
Department of Physics
Colloquium

The Principles of Instruction

Dr. Alex Ferworn

Professor
Department of Computer Science
Ryerson University

Teaching well is an act of subversion. It embarrasses those who don't, it raises the hopes of those that witness it, and it creates a hunger for more in students who start coming to class simply to see what you will do next.

Teaching well is not a miraculous event. There are principles and methods that can immensely improve anyone's teaching. The problem is, no one tells you anything when you begin to teach. They simply check to see if you are managing to do it. My goodness! We set the bar so high for our students. We make our graduate students go through an entire undergraduate degree before we let them do "research" but where is the bar for teaching. The average new professor is simply tossed in the classroom and told "good luck, try not to generate any complaints".

In this talk a set of concrete principles and methods are presented and illustrated that have been shown to promote learning. Remember, without learning it is hard to make a claim that you are teaching.

Monday October 19, 2009
12:10pm
EPH-225
87 Gerrard Street East (view map)
Coffee will be served at 12:00pm

Alex Ferworn is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at Ryerson University where he has been trying to teach since 1996. He learned how to teach from teachers over a 14 year career in the Canadian Forces.

Return to the 2009/2010 Physics Colloquium page