Zoidberg wrote:
"I'm studying teaching and physics. At the moment i really do not enjoy the lectures that I am going through. Surely there is a better way to take that information to the students I teach?"
Well I currently teach at the University of Washington, my sister teaches at the University of Wisconsin, and a friend's daughter, in grad school just completed her final year teaching at Iowa State so I come to your question with a bit of sympathy. And then, of course, I was once a student myself (and still am ... in a sense).
I think lectures are a great way to get information across. But lectures need to be exciting. You need to not just be an educator ... but also an actor. You need to exude enthusiasm for the subject and it needs to be contagious. Give me 5 minutes in any lecture hall and I'm a raging adrenaline rush ... even if I've taught the exact same material 20 times before.
And then there's that thing about demos. Build demonstrations. And the more exciting the better. Don't just talk about STP ... blow something up. Then implode something. They'll pay attention. Oh and do it outside ... where windows won't shatter. Ask me how I know. ;-)
