I also think you need some kind of mentor to give you the basis as a learner. It could be a classmate that knows more than you do. In that sense, even a calculus course could be learner-centered, with students helping each other figure out problems and the “teacher” acting as a facilitator. It’s been tried with success before, although I wouldn’t be able to give you a precise reference.

If your friend had had a peer network to help him with the technical aspects of GIS, I am sure his learning could have been greatly facilitated. My 15-year son has learned to build plastic models from reading books and magazines on the subject, and by asking questions and interacting with fellow modellers on a community of practice website. I know it doesn’t really apply to a university-level calculus or GIS course right now, but it could. The course could be set up in such a way to create peer learning groups/networks. I am still fuzzy on how this would work, but it seems possible.

Blanche

As for teachers who can communicate, this is indeed desirable. I was bored to tears doing Year 12 mathematics because my Maths teacher was just boring and was not able to explain some of the more complex subject material. Partly survived due to my own interest in maths. Such teachers who also inspire and motivate students.

I guess we can’t expect all teachers to possess expertise in all areas. I have known of cases due to resourcing issues where teachers are called upon to teach outside their area of expertise.

There is a part of me that thinks that keeping up to date with what’s out there is also important. We hope that teachers don’t rest on what they have learnt/known previously and stop exploring/ continuing to learn and share their knowledge.

A friend of mine has just finished a course in GIS: he was absolutely frustrated with his lecturer(s) who he felt could not provide more basic technical help or support with some of the specialised s/w in that area. It was sheer determination that helped him to get more out of the course.

For my own learning, I supposed it depends on the type of subject matter. There are still subject areas that I would be able to do a lot more independent learning. But if I were to do Calculus now, I think I would have more difficulty compared to IT.

WL

I have a very open teaching style too, and I know that some of my students are/were uncomfortable with this. They wanted a ‘real’ teacher who would let them listen passively and would deliver them the ‘truth’. They got frustrated, but what they wrote in their journal made me think that they did learn about their own learning style, if only that.

Motivation has a lot to do in the learning process. Motivation can be internal (coming from student, his/her attitude or interest in the subject) or external (coming from the teacher, his/her attitude, knowledge and passion about the subject). Either way, motivation is again linked to emotions rather than reason.

In the past I connected with teachers whose knowledge was somewhat outdated or deficient, but rarely with teachers who lacked teaching abilities. I don’t rely on a single source to learn on a subject, so the lack of expert knowledge, for me, is less critical than an inability to communicate knowledge. These outstanding teachers, despite their lack of expert knowledge, did motivate me to learn more about the subject by taking other classes or reading more books: they helped me learn much more than the experts who could not motivate me by communicating their knowledge and passion for a subject.

What it the same for you?

Blanche

I am in total agreement about a negative response to what has been said can lead to questions, and in turn foster learning. However there is still an old model out there that if our learning worldview does not match what is being dished out, we might be considered as “not learning”. Am I wrong about this?

Should we be also thinking about our own motivation to learn/learning?

What about situations when we have connected/like certain people but in reality these people cannot teach? Have you been in such a position? I think I have been in a few of such situations – and I don’t think I had learnt a lot but I did like the teachers/lecturers.

WL