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Show page 4 lessons, fail 2001 Besides combating computer illiteracy, tackling an increased workload, and weathering the inevitable technical glitches, Hardin and Menon allow time for individual consultations. The ------------------------ anonymity of the Internet leaves some students craving personal interaction. Menon may see some students several times in one day. Some she will never meet. To some extent Menon misses the face-to-face experience of a traditional classroom. She thinks the face-to-face classroom experience can generate an energizing learning experience. Online instruction at the University is still experiencing ------------------------- growing pains. Despite this, Hardin agrees that if technological programs continue to develop at the same rate as they have in past years, the notion of 1,000 students learning via the Internet might be a reality in 20 years. She thinks computer programs eventually might exist that simulate critical thinking and analyze student writing, to expand and extend further critical thinking skills. "It is both exciting and frightening to think about the consequences of such courses," Hardin says. "Will education move in an altogether different direction such that educators are able to expend their energy on other projects, or alternatively, will we become ivory tower expendables?" Of course, it's not the year 2020 and Internet-only study is still a fledgling field. How will it change the future in its present form? Menon says, "I think we need to evaluate this mechanism further before we decide on changing the world with it." But how small can a big class get? The answer lies east of lower campus at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. Here within the bustling halls of the School of Medicine you'll find an entirely different classroom environment. The four-year medical curriculum is divided into two distinct phases. Students spend the first two years of medical school building a foundation of knowledge about health and the human body. Such objective facts can often be taught in traditional lecture classrooms. In the final two years, students begin a medical apprenticeship under the guidance of teaching physicians. The hospital is now a classroom. At this point, interaction with patients becomes frequent and a new set of social and deductive skills becomes necessary. "Medicine is a soft science," Dr. Larry Reimer, assistant dean of curriculum of the School of Medicine says. "Some things are black-and-white, but it is mostly a matter of viewing multiple options and making a decision." This can involve an intense learning atmosphere. Five students can be a few too many in this setting. Deciding the number of students that a faculty member instructs depends on the situation. In a delicate situation such as surgery, one student can be the maximum. Such restrictions are partially due to the dynamics of the room. The enclosed A surgery hall is not a large classroom in appearance, but it is in context. Some of the students in a lecture hall of 300 are probably aspiring to be a student in that classroom of one. space of a hospital room will only allow limited numbers of personnel and equipment. But beyond logistics, Reimer stresses the important regard for humanity in medicine. -------------------- "The patient's safety and the patient's privacy is the main concern," he says. "You can't expect to address a patient's needs with a room full of people." A surgery hall is not a large classroom in appearance, but it is in context. Some of the students in a lecture hall of 300 are probably aspiring to be a student in that classroom of one. What is a large-format classroom? A packed lecture hall is the easy answer. It is, by definition, the correct -------------------- answer. But, large doesn't have to be measured in square-footage. In each case, auditorium, Internet or ICU, the "classroom" is just large enough to facilitate the level of instruction. In each case, the goal is the same. The goal is to make full use of teaching environments while striving for teaching excellence. |