At MIT, an Experiment with a New Class Format Meets Mixed Reviews

Since 2001, MIT has been experimenting with their class structure by replacing a large lecture class with smaller classes that emphasize collaboration and concept-learning – for now, targeted only towards introductory physics. The key concepts include workstations for group learning, an instructor who is free to both lecture and help individuals, hands-on experiments and the use of technology to keep everyone in sync with computer content. TEAL (Technology Enabled Active Learning) has garnered praise among administrators and faculty for improving statistics such as attendance, content retention and failure rate.

M.I.T. is not alone. Other universities are changing their ways, among them Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Harvard. In these institutions, physicists have been pioneering teaching methods drawn from research showing that most students learn fundamental concepts more successfully, and are better able to apply them, through interactive, collaborative, student-centered learning.¹

As sunny as this story sounds, however, TEAL has attracted criticism from students for a host of problems. Quality of instruction has suffered. Students are forced to work in small groups with people they don't know, the experiments are tedious, and often students can piggyback off of another group member's efforts. The standards of improvement that are touted by the administration also receive flak; attendance has improved because it is mandatory and factored into your grade. The failure rate has dropped not because of class techniques, but because the grading is easier.

Implementing teaching reform is never easy, and ostensibly good ideas can become hindrances if executed poorly. The last article I could dig up, from the New York Times in January 2009, had some students who took TEAL classes criticizing the upbeat nature of the article. Says one Chris, MIT '08:

Don't be fooled by the professors' and administration's rave reviews. The professors love it because they don't need to prepare a solid 50-minute lecture (and therefore they can devote more time to their research), the administration loves it because they can advertise it in their recruiting letters; the people who get left in the lurch are the students, who would much rather go back to the old way of doing things (this aspect, of course, the article glosses over while gushing forth about this supposedly "new" manner of teaching).¹

It is odd that the school does not provide any easy alternatives by restoring a lecture-based course as an option. An '09 recollects, "Many of us, not being able to stand [TEAL], resorted to watching online video lectures from previous years (how ironic!), taught by the wonderful Prof. Walter Lewin."¹

Karen F., a then freshman blogging about her first year of school for MIT Admissions, is similarly negative about TEAL: "Completely unofficial studies (read: asking Everyone I Know) have resulted in a heavily-supported hypothesis that No One Likes Teal. In true MIT fashion, we will call this theory NOOLT."²

However, I did for the first time find students who liked TEAL, in the comments to Karen's blog post. Says a Milena '11: "Yes, prefroshies, a lot of people hate TEAL, but a lot of people love it too. My closest friends think that, although it's a pain in the ass because it's a lot of work, it does help you learn."²

It does seem that there are mixed reviews of the TEAL classes, where some people do appreciate benefit from it, while others despise the thing and try to get it over with as soon as possible. I'd like for MIT to hold both versions (traditional, lecture-based, and TEAL) of physics to cater to different kinds to students, comparing the methods and seeing what can be tweaked to make both formats better. It's a shame that the New York Times reporter didn't interview any students and discover any of this antagonism to the subject – the article is so positive that you wouldn't even know that there was opposition.

At M.I.T., Large Lectures Are Going the Way of the Blackboard 1
By Sara Rimer, New York Times, 2009.01.12 Mon
(definitely check the comments thread, too – amongst all the optimism by casual readers there's lot of negative input from MIT students and graduates)

MIT Admissions | Blog Entry: "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Physics" 2
By Karen F. '11, MIT Admissions 2007.10.13 Sat

General Google-powered search for "TEAL" through the MIT Admissions student blogs, so you can gauge student reactions to TEAL:
http://www.google.com/search?q=teal+site:mitadmissions.org

Striking a Balance In TEAL: Whether to Learn or Inspire
By Yi Zhou, The Tech [MIT's school paper], 2006.05.09 Tue

Students Petition Against TEAL
By Lauren E. LeBon, The Tech [MIT's school paper], 2003.03.21 Fri