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Saturday, August 4, 2018

Regular Education v. Elite Education


I always tell to my students that there are science courses which represent the material simply as a collection of a disconnected facts. Courses like that do not represent students with the scientific way of thinking. 
One who follows the hype of educational technologies can see that all inventions are based on the extreme reduction of human education to an animal-type training (think circus) done by a drill sergeant. That is NOT education.
Many people in the field of education for a long time have been propelling the idea of teaching students how to think critically, but they could not offer the method for how exactly this could be done. However, the method has been around for at least several hundred years, and is called – science of scientific thinking. The true science course has to guide students through the scientific way of thinking using the course material (i.e. facts) as the building bricks of the science students learn. This is how my physics course is developed and taught (to hte best of my abilities).
BTW: physics is the best learning subject for developing scientific thinking: it is the oldest and the most developed science with a very well-known history of paradigm changes; and it represents a bridge between an abstract world of mathematics and the real world phenomena.
Boston University is one of the elite institutions and it is my responsibility to provide Boston University students with the elite education.
Naturally, not all student like my approach, the evidence shows that some of them do:
here are some examples from the latest student evaluations (more at "Dr. Voroshilov A to Z").
The main reason I share some feedback from my students is to demonstrate that when I talk about education I know what I am talking about, and I know it not just because I have a PhD in Education, not just because I know how to do it and can present me knowledge, but because I do it, and I am good at doing it (which is the result of a long professional path).
“Honestly, he is one of the best professors here in BU. He's engaging, loves teaching the material, and helps the students out to understand the concepts.”
“Very passionate, good at explaining topics and going through enough example problems, experiments/demonstrations performed in lecture were helpful.”
“I love you Mr. V, you make physics bearable!”
“Professor V. presents himself as somewhat cold and calculating, and appears to not care for his students. This is the first impression most people get, likely due to the nature of the material not involving emotional response. In reality, Professor V. cares deeply for his students, and it is apparent when he spends the time to answer students questions, regardless of how complicated or simple it may be. Professor V's teaching style keeps you motivated and engaged, and his presentations are clear and direct.”
“I have always dreaded taking Physics — so much that I waited until the summer after I had completed all the other undergraduate requirements and still hadn't taken it. I am very glad I waited and had Mr. V as a professor; he knows the material extremely well and teaches it clearly and explains well. One of my favorite professors thus far.”
“Mr. V has the most extraordinary way of teaching a topic that most people fear. His sense of humor keeps the class amusing. I'm happy that my physics experience was left in the hands of such a passionate and instructor. The course always felt fair and prepared us for his expectations.”

There are three pages on this blog that represent my approach to education:



Dr. Valentin Voroshilov
Education Advancement Professionals

To learn more about my professional experience:
Essentials of Teaching Science


 (c) Education Advancement Professionals consulting services.