Ed Hitchcock's Page

Following discussions on creativity, play, tinkering, 21st century learning, and a few other relevant topics on Fireside and elsewhere, I decided to depart from the norm. My grade 11 physics students, in particular, seemed to be ready for something a little different - by which I mean they seem bored to tears with the same...
So today as I started the electricity unit, I announced to my class that I would not be lecturing, because it is wasting their time and mine. They have, at their disposal,… Continue

We have all seen people - not just our students or children, but friends and colleagues as well - who are afraid of failure. As Sir Ken Robinson points out, this fear of failure is tied to (but not the esclusive domain of) the crushing of creativity by structured education in schools.
I have certainly noticed an increase in this perfectionist attitude in students, but there is one small, seemingly insignificant indicator that really has me worried. Lately, my students have been leaving answers b… Continue

There is a battle waging, one that we cannot possibly win. The "enemy" is too resourceful, and we are battling on their home ground. I am not talking of the conflicts in Afghanistan or Iraq, but in our own halls and classrooms. I am speaking of the war to block the internet...
A few years ago the decision was made to go laptop, and it was a decision I supported, because it gives every student a complete library and multimedia production studio at their fingertips. The catch-phrases being used we… Continue

I like analogies. I find they are one of the quickest ways to get students to latch onto an idea.
This morning I was going back over the "first day advice" discussion, and another analogy occured to me. You know the old practical joke where students (typically engineers) disassemble a car and reassemble it in a dorm room (or the Dean's office)? Well, as a teacher, that is in a sense what I do. I take ideas, disassemble them into their component parts, and reasemble them inside my student's heads… Continue

As part of our comittment to public outreach, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada runs a series of lectures for the general public (free, but signup required) called NOVA (New Observers to Visual Astronomy). I had never done one of these before, but I was in the right place at the right time - having coffee with the organizer when he got the call that one of the speakers had to cancel - and agreed to fill the gap.

As I was preparing my talk it occurred to me that a one-shot deal for a few… Continue