Experimenting with Learning

First year university is an especially difficult transition. This year might be harder than typical depending on what your experience has been learning during the pandemic. So, please, if you need some help (in class, in life) please reach out to me so I can do whatever I can or put you in contact with people who can help.

Teaching and learning in this course will be an experiment for students and the professor. For professors, each group of students is a unique experience and what can work with some students don't work with others. So we'll might need to change the schedule to address this.

You will be learning in a medium and a format quite different from high school. You will be asked to do assignments which are totally unfamiliar to you. You will be using software for this class which is likely new or at least used in new ways. I likely will have expectations and forms of etiquette which differ from those of other professors. Thus we should all try to be patient and understanding if (or when) things don't go as smoothly as we'd like.

Experiments in learning can pay off if we accept the risks.

Things to Keep in Mind

To succeed in this seminar, it may require a different kind energy and discipline from you than a traditional lecture course. I am going to ask you to learn differently than is typical, but with the knowledge that this process will make it easier for you in the long term and you will be smarter for it.

Willingness to experiment: Much of this course will be making and playing games. You need to be willing to try new things and not to worry too much about getting things exactly right. Trying and failing to do something can often teach more than getting it perfectly right the first time. Students need to embrace the idea that class is an experiment in learning.

Motivation: Motivation can always be challenging. I suspect that in our context (e.g. almost everyone has a lot of additional concerns/ issues/ considerations as a result of covid-19) finding the motivation to buckle down on our courses might be extra challenging. I hope the face-to-face time in the classroom (especially with your peers) can provide energy and motivation…

Difficulty of concentration: One of the reasons that I believe in-person classes remain so important, even in our digital age, is because it gives us spaces in which we can switch off our devices and all of the distractions they offer, and hone the absolutely vital skill of concentration (a skill that is key both for having a successful learning experience in this course, but also for life in general). Carving out spaces of intensive concentration (while in class, doing your readings, working on your syntheses and other written assignments at home) will no doubt be much more challenging, for a variety of reasons.

Tech problems: no doubt there will be both a significant learning curve for all of us in terms of how the various pieces of software work, as well as a variety of tech mishaps due to the demands of internet streaming, etc. We’ll have to become skilled at quickly problem solving these together. I am no tech genius but hopefully together we can sort out issues.