Socratic Electronics

[Josip]

Hi,

a perfect place to learn something....on new way

What is Socratic Electronics?

We live in a world where the accumulation of knowledge is exponential over time, and where the ability to continuously learn and make sound judgments is essential to survival. Formal education ought to play an important role in preparing individuals to succeed in this environment, but many traditional modes of education actually discourage development of independent thinking skills necessary for success.

The most important thing any educator can impart to a student, in any context, is the ability to teach themselves. When teachers dispense knowledge to students in the traditional lecture format -- where students passively watch and listen -- they deny students deep interaction with the subject matter. Furthermore, instructor-centered pedagogy assumes and reinforces the debilitating notion that education can only happen in the presence of a superior: You (the student) need me (the teacher) in order to learn.


Placing students at the center of the instructional process breaks this dependency. A time-tested way of centering instruction around students is to teach by asking questions. This is generally called the ``Socratic method,'' made famous by the Greek philosopher Socrates. Another way to center instruction around students is to have them share their new-found knowledge with others. As any teacher knows, ``when you teach, you learn twice.'' I have found that a synthesis of these two instructional techniques -- stimulating student thought by asking lots of questions, and consolidating new-found knowledge through presentation -- not only fosters learning at a deeper level than I have ever experienced in a lecture-based course, but also builds confidence and self-teaching ability within students.
The purpose of this website is to provide both rationale and resources for research/discussion-based instruction to instructors everywhere. Central to the Socratic Electronics project is a large collection of questions and answers, intended as student assignments. By requiring students to research answers to these questions, then present their findings in class, students learn how to locate information, problem-solve, collaborate, and clearly articulate their thoughts while learning the basic subject matter. While the resources provided on this site are specifically designed for teaching electronics, the method itself is applicable to a wide variety of disciplines. I welcome constructive criticism, as well as participation in the development of this learning resource.


An important feature of these questions and answers is that they are configurable. They are organized in such a format as to be assembled into custom worksheets suitable for use in a variety of electronics classroom settings. Thus, you are not bound to using the compiled worksheets as they appear on this website. Rather, you may easily select which problems you wish to have on your own worksheet(s), and create them automatically by editing and executing a simple computer ``script'' file.


For those interested in the genesis and application of this teaching philosophy, here is a ``manifesto'' I've written on the subject of learning to learn. It briefly chronicles my experiences with this learning method during the first year of its application in my class.

http://openbookproject.net//books/socratic/index.html

Hope you'll like it

I'm not sure but many moments in our conversation on RE forums remind me about above said... "when you teach....

Best regards, Josip

[nike123]

Hi,

a perfect place to learn something....on new way

Hi Josip,
good article

Check link collection of questions and answers