New Realization, Research Paper Example

I asked my economics professor about how to do engaged pedagogy. I wanted to know how men and women learn, and also how different races and ethnics learn in his classes. And also how he tries to reach the audience and make them active, so that they learn and are interested in the class. He said to me that yes, men and women do learn differently, he has noticed in his class. “Speaking as a general rule, my students who are men tend to be more assertive,” he said. “I think they tend to see class performance as more of a competition than women do.” He said that women tend to ask better questions: “Again speaking generally, many of the best questions I get come from women.” He said that when they do speak out, they have often very good thoughts. “Women are just as intelligent as men. It’s not an intelligence thing, it’s a culture thing: society trains men to speak far more readily.” With different races and ethnics, my professor said that he hasn’t noticed many differences. Different ethnics are often friends with each other in his classes.

As a teacher, he said, he always tries to talk to the students in a way that will excite them in the class. “I try to give different examples of things in class, and use different tools to reach them,” he said. “Some students are very intuitive learners, so it’s easy for them. Others need more practice.” I asked him how well these work, and he said that they work very well: “By making the material relevant and interesting, I motivate the students.” With men and women, he tries to talk to students who are both. Sometimes the women students do not talk as much, especially if there are more men. So my professor will try to ask them questions to share their thoughts and opinions with the class. He says that this helps women to speak out more often. He also tries to create dialogue in the class, so that different students can help to teach other. This helped me to realize that different teaching methods for different people really do work very well. I found this very inspiring, because it shows how effective teaching can be.

Works Cited

Lastname, firstname. Personal interview. 09 Apr. 2012.