Humph. I still don't believe the explanations about the moon illusion (even though I'm pretty well-schooled in perception). But, I just wanted to chime in with my favorite answer to a difficult question asked by a student: "Good question--what do YOU think?" Sometimes having the student think through it gives you enough time to organize a cogent response.
Carol On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 9:21 AM, Pollak, Edward <[email protected]> wrote: > > > No matter what you talk about, take a few minutes before the lecture to > get "psyched." You're an entertainer getting ready to do a stand up act in > front of a large audience. Start with that mind set. You're an educator who > entertains......... or an entertainer who educates. And be as peripatetic as > possible. There's nothing worse than someone reading a PowerPoint lecture > while glued to the lectern. Avoid PowerPoint but have some amusing or > interesting 2-5 min. video clips to spice things up. > > > > If we had an idea about the topic of the lecture, we could probably > suggest some specific clips or illustrations, etc. But I must say, I did > like the suggestion about a lecture on illusions as the visuals can have > that great "wow factor." But in my experience, students often have trouble > understanding basic concepts, e.g., how size constancy explains the moon > illusions. It's somewhat counterintuitive so only do the illusion lecture if > you're really comfortable with the topic. > > > > I remember the first time I lectured on classical conditioning to a large > lecture class. I though I understood it all quite well until some > uncharacteristically interested student asked a rather insightful question. > I quickly realized that I didn't understand as much as I thought I did. > All I could do was say, "Great question....... so good that I'm stumped and > will have to give you an answer next time.!" > > > > > > > > *Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D.* > > *Department of Psychology* > > *West Chester** University of Pennsylvania* > > *Office hours: Mondays noon-2 & 3-4; Tuesdays & Thursdays 8-9:15 & 12:30-2 > * > > http://home.comcast.net/~epollak/home.htm** > > **** > > *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* > > *Husband, father, grandfather, biopsychologist, & bluegrass fiddler...... > in approximate order of importance.* > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=8938 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-8938-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > -- Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology St. Ambrose University 518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803 563-333-6482 This e-mail might be confidential, so please don't share it. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=8940 or send a blank email to leave-8940-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
