reaction to 9/25

it was nice to hear Professor Dean talk / lead the discussion for a portion of the class. It's great to have the back and forth discussion with my classmates but it's helpful to hear from the professor as well. I think it's more effective to structure class this way. Granted I do learn from what my peers have to say but at the same time I find a portion of my learning comes from what the professor discusses. In the past I have had professors that (for a twice a week class) lecture on the first day and for the second class the students are expected to carry on a discussion (modertated by the professor or the students) that ties into the reading and the lecture from the previous class. This structure does have some advantages such as the extended duration of class wide discussion, but for the most part I do not think it is as effective as the recent structure of our past few classes.
WHen professor Dean lectures and then opens the floor for discussions, these classes have been more effective for me than our other classes. Furthermore, the day we broke off into small groups (tuesday 9/23) and had to teach eachother what we read about was helpful to me. This type of structure allowed us the responsiblity to accomplish an assignment and to then come prepared to teach others about it. I think this is a good skill that is applicable to certain things in our futures, such as our jobs. Overall the combination of shared learning - this idea of peer to peer education- in conjunction with our work outside the class and the lecturing of Professor Dean all have contributed to what I have learned (and what i will take away) from this class. Learning wise, the past few classes have been successful for me, so i hope our classes continue to mantain this sort of structure.

I am looking forward to tuesday's class. This is an exciting opportunity, but also a creative way for me to learn from my peers. I hope to learn some new internet tricks.

-adrienne