“ In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount of revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Does anyone know what Vice President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something-d-o-o economics. "Voodoo" economics.”
This is a somewhat famous line from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Ben Stein, the economics teacher, with a lot of effort attempts to get the class to participate. As he tries to pause for effect and wait for answer from the class, the students appear to either uninterested or in a state of deep coma. Although the movie tended to exaggerate the affairs of a high school student, I could personally relate to this particular scene. In my life there have been many moments where due to a lack of conversation there is either a lull and/or an awkward silence.
This happens quite frequently in many of my classes. The professor poses a question and waits for a response and finally ends up providing the answer himself in order to continue the lecture. Often, the questions are very easy and it appears as though the entire class knows the answer and yet no one raises their hand or their voice. A few professors have gotten smart and pose questions in different ways such as, “Does anyone not understand this topic?” So when no one raises their hand the professor just continues on with his lecture. In many cases, the professor either ends up picking on someone or giving up altogether. Lately, I’ve noticed that professors carry around a class log with photos and then pick on students to give answers. It may be a faster method than waiting however, before he picks someone the entire class ends up in cold sweat as if awaiting Armageddon.
Personally, I’m not a fan of choosing students at random. There are days where I feel more talkative and other days where I’m just not in the mood. There may be a few people who love to stand out in class and others who are just shy. In the worst case, you just simply don’t know the answer and yet you are forced to become an example in front of the whole class. In the last example, one also fears punishment from the lecturer, or embarrassment from the peers. At this point, a few professors are kind and simply point out your mistake, however a few others also make fun of the student. I don’t feel like participating in a class where the students exist just to prove that the professor is a genius.
The classroom setting is not the only place where a lack of conversation can occur. There is also the everyday social setting. When meeting someone for the first time, you can introduce yourself but sometime the other party may not respond or just not show any interest beyond the pleasantries. It’s rather difficult to establish a relationship without both side being open and at the very least interested. You can’t force the other person to open up, as they may shy away even more. That’s not to say that just because they don’t cozy right up to you that they’re antisocial. Some people just take a little time to warm up and build a good relationship.
In most cases the most you can do is act pleasant and not to be pushy. Just give the other party the time and the freedom to open up at their own pace. I don’t believe in making someone talk when they don’t wish to. When you feel that the other party has no intention to ever have a conversation, the most you can do is at least show that you yourself are an open persona and easy to talk to. You could interest them by talking about topics that they are familiar with or they have any opinion about. This is typically the case where one party would like to understand the actions of the other. A personal experience is when you parents yell at you for something that you have done. It’s just another way of them trying to understand your actions. At this time I silently stare at the floor with nothing to say as I am getting disciplinary lecture. Even this could be a form of conversation because at the end I at least understand what my mom was trying to convey.
The final conclusion is that it is impossible to have a conversation with a brick wall. If the other party refuses to talk there is nothing more you can do than to just wait for the time when they are willing to have a conversation.
On Monday we will discuss some of the underlying factors in the faculty ending up answering the questions they pose. Absent telepathy, which would really be a great teaching aid, it is very hard for the instructor to get a sense of what students are thinking, what they understand easily, and where their pain points are likely to be. Absent that information, instructors end up teaching to a false vision of themselves when they were twenty years old.
ReplyDeleteOn a different front, do you know who Ben Stein's dad was?
That clip from the Ferris Bueller movie is often used in faculty development workshops. We may learn by imitation, but sometimes we also learn by what to avoid.
I searched online and found that his father was the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Nixon Administration. However, I didn't know that before.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note for those who are interested, I found the quote at www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/quotes. They also have other funny quotes from the movie.