Learnig Curves

As the semester progresses, the weaker spots in my teaching and in student comprehensive become visible. The class discussion this morning revealed the steepness of our learning curves. While I have come to a comfortable acceptance of the discomfort associated with learning curves, students tend to fear those curves as possible barriers to getting good grades. This creates an interesting tension.

I have a teaching philosophy which has only become stronger over the years, particularly as it relates to doctoral student education. The philosophy centers on challenging ourselves to think about things (phenomena, problems, solutions, theories) from different perspectives and using different lens for the purpose of finding new questions and alternative ways to frame the problems we wish to solve. In challenging ourselves to become more conceptually nibble, uncertainty enters the picture. Learning to  live with uncertainty includes not having a handy, bubble sheet "right" answer. My responsibility as a teacher includes fostering independent thinking and supporting the students through the uncertainty of that.

Curves becomes an appropriate analogy, especially curvy roads and mountains. Being on a mountain road involves the hidden faith that the road continues around the curve, that the going up and the going down have a purposes, and that the curves cumulatively take you from place A to place B. I prefer this interpretation of learning curves, rather than the x/y plot showing a steep slope. For me learning curves are more about distance, angles, and perseverance. Doctoral students have a path that involves distance between what was formerly assumed and what have since been learned and questioned. The path involves angles, an acquired ability to view life from almost 360 degrees, and to appreciate the views from that width. The path definitely involves perseverance, as in determination to do finish the grey cell exercises and and to go beyond the comfort of long straight roads.

As the professor, I am on that path with the students. Experiencing their questioning faith. Getting sore feet walking the distance. Getting a sore neck from looking over my shoulder for that new angle. Getting worn out grey cells from the impromptu examples and answers to their wonderfully challenging questions. My teaching philosophy is that the teacher and the student, for a short while, share the same path and get stronger together.