Dear College of Science Faculty and Staff,
As we journey deeper into the semester, I want to thank every faculty member who is teaching for your work. Our talented College of Science teaching faculty often carry the load of the largest classes, and I am deeply grateful for your expertise, commitment, and creativity in the hugely important education of students in science subjects. Thank you!
For many years, I taught Developmental Biology. Although I updated my curriculum every year to reflect advances in the field and growing medical connections, over time I noticed that students entering the course were changing. The students had evolved their baseline understanding, and the course needed to evolve with them. A new course was born, Building with Cells, that met the students at the right place and gave a fresh view of the subject.
I was prompted to think about this type of evolution while walking into EXP on the second floor, where you pass by new classrooms with glass walls. It’s a real invitation to see what’s being taught, and a reminder of how teaching tools and approaches are changing. When I asked Google for insight into ‘the evolution of teaching’, the engine got confused and thought the question was ‘how to teach evolution’. Well no. So, I asked ChatGPT and immediately got a cogent and well-organized response. Wow. The summary was:
The evolution of teaching has undergone significant changes throughout history, adapting to societal, technological, and educational advancements. Here is a brief overview of key stages in the evolution of teaching: all the way from Traditional Methods to Formalized schooling to Progressive Education and Personalized Learning, and (my view) an interesting perspective on Challenges and Opportunities:
- Challenges include addressing disparities in access to quality education, adapting to rapid technological changes, and meeting the demands of a dynamic job market.
- Opportunities arise from innovative pedagogies, collaborative learning environments, and the potential of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
Changes through history in how we teach raise the question of how far back you can go, and into whether non-human species also teach. I can answer personally, having seen an elephant matriarch sharply teaching a youngster how to behave properly, but I decided to give Google another chance, and asked ‘do animals teach?’ Once again the platform was confused and gave a lot about ‘what animals can teach people’, but it did yield this slightly condescending article which acknowledged that teaching is not a human invention, although schools and universities seem to be. ChatGPT quickly agreed, with the following preamble:
Yes, many animals exhibit teaching behavior. Teaching in the animal kingdom involves one individual intentionally providing information or skills to another individual. This behavior is not merely instinctual but involves a deliberate effort to transfer knowledge or skills. Here are a few examples of animals engaging in teaching behavior (Great Apes, Dolphins, Birds, Meerkats, Wolves, Ants, Elephants).
How fantastic that our mission to teach Northeastern University students is embedded in millions of years of biological evolution! It highlights the fundamental importance of teaching in our lives. But the ability to teach effectively takes enormous talent. We are fortunate to have amongst our faculty many brilliant educators, refining and evolving curriculum, opening new topics, and guiding students at all levels along their paths. Thank you for your outstanding teaching, thank you for carrying forward our Northeastern University and Strategic Plan commitment to give every student, at every global campus, the highest quality Science education. Please watch for a celebration of this commitment at our first COS Festival of Learning coming soon!