Is interactive learning the solution to better understanding?

ABDURRAHMAN ELHADI   

College of Arts And Social Sciences, Media

It's common knowledge that students drag themselves reluctantly to some lectures and jump at the opportunity to be the first person arriving in other lectures, so what really makes students behave this way?  And what can teachers do about that?

In the recent years, Sultan Qaboos University has shown an increase in the number of lecturers using interactive teaching methods.  SQU students are starting to welcome the concepts of inquiry based learning and interactive learning more than before.  According to Hamed Al Hashmi, a third year student at the SQU said that “it feels that you are really working and actually learning something new,ˮ in comparison to the traditional methods which he plainly described as “very boring and sometimes stressful.”

Isaac Al Jabri one of the students who took this course with Dr. Delatova, “We wrote weekly diary to reflect upon the work we did and we didn’t have a final exam. It was a nice change.  He also explained how quite tough it could be during the time of continuous assessment. 

Nevertheless we see that the classic traditional methods still prevail and are still widely used by lecturers in SQU to date. Recent studies have all pointed towards the growing benefits of interactive teaching methods like inquiry based learning and project based learning according to an education focused webpage.

One of the courses taught at SQU using project based learning is Cultural Communication, a course provided within the Management Department in the College of Commerce and Economics. Dr.Vickytoria Delatova, a communications assistant professor, uses this method.  “After starting to use this method I have found that students start to interact more with me and among themselves. Indeed, they learn by experience and trial etching the information to their memory” she said. Moreover, she stated how students at the beginning stumbled a little and had problems in accepting and adapting to this different style, but later they grasped it and made it their own.

In contrary, Malika al busaidi, an assistant professor in the social department, uses the traditional methods of teaching. “Student are taught to receive information from the instant they are very young, so they are used to it and it works why change?” She also explained how valuable the time students spend with their teacher that it should not be wasted playing games or activities.

Dr.Frank Renard, a French assistant professor in management at SQU states that the secret to getting the students to accept this different teaching method, is by explaining to them why you do you use it. “Once this question is answered they accept it and follow it.’’ “The other main thing is to relate it to them, to their culture, everyday life and current events.” He then adds how important it's for teachers to keep in touch with their student’s generation.

A point which both Dr. Delatova and Dr. Renard mentioned is the vital role the interactions outside the classroom play in gearing up these students for the future. This learning process, also, helps them to be independent and self-educated as all of these concepts are stressed upon meanwhile taking the course.

While Dr.Mohamed Satour a mass media professor who makes use of both interactive and traditional ways of teaching says, “the reoccurring and continuous use of slide shows and recitation or speech in the presence of a variety of new alternatives is plain ignorance. Our end result is to get the student to learn and have fun, what the medium is just a medium to get the message across.”