The tension: frustration vs. boredom

 I'm about to launch my new SPAN 1411 Online course.  Hooray!  I went through and proofread all the details and I'm pleased with it.

As I was setting due dates I listened to a podcast in which the host discussed the tension between frustration and boredom in learning.  Hmmm.

I had never really thought about this.

In my mind a "good teacher" supplies everything a student could possibly need to be successful in class.  This means lots of explanations, including videos so that the pinch points of the material can be avoided.  

I had never considered that if a students doesn't feel the frustration of not knowing everything he/she won't really learn the material.  Hmmm.

The argument presented was that if the instructor supplies everything students ever need in a class the instructor may actually short-changing the students' learning.  Learning happens right before the light bulb moment.  It's the brain's scurrying to build a new framework.  I'm no expert but I've gathered and extrapolated that the harder the brain works the deeper the learning.  

I prefer the flipped classroom for this reason.  I expect my students to wrestle with the material by reading the reading assignment, taking notes and practicing with the info so that when they come to class they can apply it.  If they have questions I'm happy to answer, but they need to complete this step so we can use this information in class.

I find that the frustration piece of learning is hard for students.  I call this a baby food issue.  As a society, we have lost our ability to "chew."  We're given everything in baby food consistency.  (Figuratively).  When asked to actually chew to break something down to learn it we don't know how.


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