University of Alabama students chose Lawrence Kohl, a history professor, to give this year’s Last Lecture.
… Kohl said scientific thinking dominates every other way of thinking. Many modern-day scientists know people will like what they discover or create because people now rely on technology, he said.
“Our age has become disillusioned and dissatisfied with what humans can do,” Kohl said.
According to Kohl, the 21st century is a time of competition — countries compete, humans compete and even schools compete…
Humans use drugs to increase athletic performance beyond their natural ability, Kohl said.
… Kohl discussed how educators now have a misguided worship of technology, where they prefer the new over the old and compare the real to the virtual. Also, instructors should trust students to be able to learn without all [the] new technology in the classroom.
… The scientific mind is reshaping education to make it more reductive, Kohl said. One example is the goals and objectives instructors have to put on the class syllabus. According to Kohl, it is wasteful, corrupting and destructive of proper teaching. Some instructors may even create goals which are easily achieved.
… He mentioned that the clickers many UA students use are a great example of the reductive scientific mindset. Every technique will not necessarily work for every class or for every set of students.
Kohl said he disagrees with educators who claim that young people are better at multitasking than older generations.
… He said most people think new is always better than old, and this can be destructive because people may accept educational techniques without looking at their usefulness, necessity and implications.
… Humanities and fine arts, especially, cannot replace an instructor with technology because technology can cause the course to lose its value to students, he said.
Kohl gave an example of students who may be looking forward to taking a class taught by Rick Bragg, only to discover he is teaching the course through pre-recorded videos. Kohl said students would likely be disappointed, and a lecture can be a life-changing experience.
“Much of my career has been shaped by those who have long passed away,” Kohl said. “We need to create an educational environment of, by and for human beings.”
Kohl pointed out instructors should live up to the University’s slogan, “Touching lives.”
“Let them be human lives, and let them be touched by human minds,” Kohl said…
May 11th, 2010 at 10:37AM
“According to Kohl, the 21st century is a time of competition — countries compete, humans compete and even schools compete…”
As opposed to what era of noncompetition? In feudal societies, for instance, local lords violently competed with one another for land, and as society stabilized competed for status in jousts, fox hunts, etc. “Countries compete”…at a level comparable with the Great Power politics that culminated in World War One. “Even schools compete”..well, maybe he has a point there, because in many societies, the status of certain schools (Oxford/Cambridge, the leading French ecoles) was so elevated that no other school *could* compete.
May 12th, 2010 at 2:06PM
A little bit of nostalgic wistfulness, but not entirely off the mark. The old methods and disciplines that made up Humanism have been drowned out by reductive thinking. Its not competition or scientific thought. It is cultural nihilism. The attitude that says: Where is mine? Whats in it for me? How can I get that cheaper?