Learning Seminar: Experiments in Education

The syllabus for the seminar is available in PDF and DVI.

We meet Tuesdays from 1:30 to 2:30 and Fridays from 3:00 to 4:00 in MIT room 24-619. Guests are very welcome.

Grade Pros:

more objective [numerical and defined]
incentives and disincentives
easier for teachers/administrators/colleges
objective fairness - known competency
trains creative people to be brave
tricks people into learning useful stuff

(provides intermediate goals and evaluation)

Grade Cons:

subjective and noisy
reward is tied to grade
loss of intrinsic motivation
makes creativity risky

1. Several of our participants are listeners and there will be times when they won't have time to do all the reading. In an attempt to learn from Holt, at the beginning of each class, everyone will say whether or not they did the reading. That way, no one has to pretend otherwise.

2. It's important that the discussions be allowed to drift and draw on personal experiences, but spend all our time on that disenfranchises the readings. For next time, we'll try starting from the reading, but then drifting around for the first half hour. In the last half hour, we'll tie things back to the reading more strongly.

Class Readings:

• How Children Fail - John Holt:
  Excerpts on problems with schools: pp. xiii - xv, 3 - 6, 10 - 17, 37 - 44, 48 - 49, 67 - 69.

• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig:
    Phaedrus' Experiment in Grade-less Education: chapter 16
  "An Option for Intellectual Autonomy" - George Valley
    Appendices E and F of My Years in the M.I.T. Experimental Study Group by George Valley.
  "Nurturing Talent and Creativity in the Arts" - Vittorio Giannini
    Education for Creativity: A Modern Myth?, ed. by Paul Heist, pp. 67 - 78

• Wad-ja-get? : The Grading Game in American Education - Howard Kirschenbaum, et. al.
    Chapter 1. The First Debate: The Grading of Creativity
    Chapter 4. The Class Reports on the History of Grading
    Chapter 12. The PTA Hears about the Research on Grades

• Maverick Colleges: Antioch: Vision and Revision - Kerrie Naylor
    Also, explore the Antioch Webage, particularly the Antiochian.
  Maverick Colleges: Evergreen: Ever Green? - Zandile Nkabinde
    Also, explore the Evergreen Webage, particularly the About Section.

• (TBD: Deep vs. Shallow Learning Material; TBD: Scientific American article on brain learning (stimulus-response))
• (Situated Learning: Legitmate Peripheral Participation - J. Lave and E. Wenger)
• The Torch and the Firehose - Arthur Mattuck: excerpts on teaching
• Olin College Propaganda
• My Years at the Experimental Study Group - George Valley: excerpts on convergence, divergence, and basic ideas
• My Years at the Experimental Study Group - George Valley: the early years
• (How Children Learn - John Holt: excerpts on teaching problem children)
• Summerhill School - Alexander Neill, et. al.
• (Types of Learning and Types of Intelligence)
• (Waldorf Schools and The Home-schooling Movement (and other movements?))
• (Juggling for the Complete Klutz - John Cassidy)
• Maverick Colleges: Deep Springs: Loyalty to a Fault? - L. Jackson Newell
• "Dead Poets' Society" - movie
• Maverick Colleges: Antioch: Vision and Revision - Kerrie Naylor
• Fields, Factories, and Workshops - Peter Kropotkin: excerpts on purpose of education
• Maverick Colleges: Black Mountain: Meteor Among Mavericks
• Rules for the Direction of the Mind - Rene Descartes: excerpts on learning slowly
• Maverick Colleges: Chicago: Young Hutchins' Dream
• Zen and the Art of Archery: excerpts on non-individualized learning
• Maverick Colleges: St. John's: Back to Classics
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig: chapter 26 (gumption)
• The Harrad Experiment - Robert Rimmer: Chapter 1, 2