Spring Break
Carothers: Reduce lectures, focus on interactive learning
Brenna McCabe
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: News
5/14/07 - "'Sit down and shut up,'" University of Rhode Island President Robert L. Carothers said. "That's what life in a factory was like … And what's the dynamic in schools? 'Sit down and shut up.'"
Carothers explained that it has been his plan to transform this learning dynamic from the moment he became president of URI.
"There's three parts to learning: instruction, experience and reflection," he said. "Most of what we do [at URI] is instruction. The most powerful learning experience is when those three are put together. We don't need people who do repetitive work anymore. We need people with creativity who can handle rapid changes. The model [for learning] is different."
According to Carothers, URI is ushering in a new age, which will slowly break through the mold of what he called "an American mechanism of obedience and tolerance for boredom," as he reduces the number of lectures and increases the amount of interactive learning at the university.
"The historic styles of discipline are breaking down everywhere," he said, adding that he wants to foster the three aspects of learning so that students can maximize their experiences inside the classroom.
To do this, Carothers has implemented a plan that includes slowly reducing the number lectures, providing new interactive learning partnerships and online classes in the future.
"Learning technology has given us a different angle to all of this," he said, referring to the increasing number of online courses.
There are about 90 online courses offered for the summer session. Carothers said that although technology has made things easier over the years, he wants to keep a variety of learning styles to suit different students, rather than getting rid of regular lectures altogether.
"You wouldn't want a large percentage of your learning [to be online]," he said. "There are great people who inspire students - we don't want to lose that."
Carothers said online courses are directly beneficial to the students who work to support themselves while taking classes.
Carothers explained that it has been his plan to transform this learning dynamic from the moment he became president of URI.
"There's three parts to learning: instruction, experience and reflection," he said. "Most of what we do [at URI] is instruction. The most powerful learning experience is when those three are put together. We don't need people who do repetitive work anymore. We need people with creativity who can handle rapid changes. The model [for learning] is different."
According to Carothers, URI is ushering in a new age, which will slowly break through the mold of what he called "an American mechanism of obedience and tolerance for boredom," as he reduces the number of lectures and increases the amount of interactive learning at the university.
"The historic styles of discipline are breaking down everywhere," he said, adding that he wants to foster the three aspects of learning so that students can maximize their experiences inside the classroom.
To do this, Carothers has implemented a plan that includes slowly reducing the number lectures, providing new interactive learning partnerships and online classes in the future.
"Learning technology has given us a different angle to all of this," he said, referring to the increasing number of online courses.
There are about 90 online courses offered for the summer session. Carothers said that although technology has made things easier over the years, he wants to keep a variety of learning styles to suit different students, rather than getting rid of regular lectures altogether.
"You wouldn't want a large percentage of your learning [to be online]," he said. "There are great people who inspire students - we don't want to lose that."
Carothers said online courses are directly beneficial to the students who work to support themselves while taking classes.
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