Julia Crowell

Julia Crowell

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Perhaps I wasn't clear with my post -- I haven't had problems telling the class I don't know something and that I'll find out and get back to them. This is NOT the problem. The only problem I've had was when I implemented a suggestion from MK to "embrace technology in the classroom" and let the class look it up on their smartphones or on the computer in the room.

I completed one of the other MaxKnowledge courses which discussed technology in the classroom -- better get used to it, use it, embrace it, because it's no going away. So instead of saying "I don't know; I'll look it up at the break and get back to you," which is what I've done in the past, I said, "I don't know -- let's look it up." On my surveys, I got blasted, "Why are we paying all this money for a teacher who tells us to look things up for ourselves?" So clearly this was not the right implementation of… >>>

I teach in a culinary school. The course I teach is typically seen as irrelevant to cooking and to their careers. The course is extremely relevant, but they don't yet have the real-world experience to know this. Sadly, most of them are convinced they'll never need this info. I have had really good results with inviting former students come in and speak to the class, but I can't always count on getting a guest speaker. Any ideas on how to have the effect of a guest speaker without a guest speaker?
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This is what I was looking for, thanks.
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Thank you for your suggestion. I can see how this would work for the example of the oven temps, and I'll use it to address that specific issue. However, there are more situations that arise in the classroom every term than I could possibly address in this manner. My question is more about how to encourage the students to think for themselves. I know they can come up with the right answer if they think about it, but instead they want me to give them the right answer. So how do I encourage them to approach situations in a logical… >>>

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Thank you for your response. Because of the environment we're in, there are ample opportunities for students to apply critical thinking skills. There's no need to create situations. Let me give you another example: There are 6 ovens, at 6 different temps. Some students will turn down the temp on a particular oven to the desired temperature, never realizing that because of the stone decks, it could take hours to cool down. They're not looking at the other ovens to see that some of them are already at the desired temp! How do I get them to look at the… >>>

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I find that no matter the age of my students, many are lacking in critical thinking skills. Often they can't apply reason to a problem to figure out a solution -- for example, if a knob is missing on a piece of equipment, but there are 5 other removeable knobs that are exactly the same on that same piece of equipment, how can you figure out what the setting is on the control that's missing a knob? Beyond the technical skills they need to do the job, they need problem solving skills. How do other instructors address this issue?

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