{"id":164,"date":"2021-06-20T13:32:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T08:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kishorebharati.org\/?p=164"},"modified":"2021-06-20T13:32:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T08:02:54","slug":"cube-from-a-teachers-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/cube-from-a-teachers-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"CUBE from a teacher&#8217;s perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote alignleft\"><blockquote><p>By Aashutosh Mule<\/p><cite>30th October 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It&nbsp;was&nbsp;a&nbsp;winter&nbsp;month&nbsp;of&nbsp;2011.&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;finished&nbsp;my&nbsp;post-graduation&nbsp;and&nbsp;was&nbsp;looking&nbsp;forward&nbsp;to&nbsp;pursue&nbsp;a&nbsp;PhD&nbsp;degree&nbsp;in&nbsp;neuroscience.&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;heard&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Masters&nbsp;in&nbsp;Neuroscience&nbsp;course&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;Life&nbsp;Science&nbsp;department&nbsp;of&nbsp;Sophia&nbsp;College.&nbsp;I&nbsp;went&nbsp;to&nbsp;meet&nbsp;the&nbsp;HOD,&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Medha&nbsp;Rajadhyaksha.&nbsp;\u201cUnfortunately&nbsp;we&nbsp;do&nbsp;not&nbsp;have&nbsp;any&nbsp;current&nbsp;openings&nbsp;for&nbsp;PhD\u201d,&nbsp;she&nbsp;sighed.&nbsp;But&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;very&nbsp;next&nbsp;moment,&nbsp;with&nbsp;a&nbsp;gleam&nbsp;in&nbsp;her&nbsp;eyes&nbsp;she&nbsp;suggested&nbsp;me&nbsp;of&nbsp;a&nbsp;neuroscience&nbsp;project&nbsp;taking&nbsp;place&nbsp;elsewhere&nbsp;for&nbsp;which&nbsp;I&nbsp;might&nbsp;take&nbsp;interest.&nbsp;She&nbsp;took&nbsp;the&nbsp;name&nbsp;of&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;M.C.&nbsp;Arunan&nbsp;and&nbsp;shared&nbsp;me&nbsp;his&nbsp;contact.I&nbsp;was&nbsp;amazed&nbsp;that&nbsp;all&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;to&nbsp;do&nbsp;was&nbsp;tell&nbsp;him&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;interested&nbsp;to&nbsp;know&nbsp;of&nbsp;his&nbsp;project&nbsp;in&nbsp;my&nbsp;first&nbsp;call,&nbsp;and&nbsp;this&nbsp;person&nbsp;started&nbsp;talking&nbsp;to&nbsp;me&nbsp;with&nbsp;such&nbsp;great&nbsp;enthusiasm,&nbsp;giving&nbsp;me&nbsp;so&nbsp;many&nbsp;different&nbsp;examples&nbsp;of&nbsp;how&nbsp;cognition&nbsp;could&nbsp;be&nbsp;studied&nbsp;in&nbsp;animals,&nbsp;almost&nbsp;as&nbsp;if&nbsp;he&nbsp;knew&nbsp;me&nbsp;since&nbsp;quite&nbsp;a&nbsp;time.&nbsp;He&nbsp;told&nbsp;me&nbsp;of&nbsp;how&nbsp;sparrows&nbsp;hop&nbsp;and&nbsp;never&nbsp;walk&nbsp;unlike&nbsp;crows&nbsp;and&nbsp;how&nbsp;this&nbsp;differing&nbsp;degree&nbsp;of&nbsp;freedom&nbsp;of&nbsp;movement&nbsp;could&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;correlation&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;complexity&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;brains.&nbsp;Drawn&nbsp;by&nbsp;this&nbsp;enthusiasm&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;mentor,&nbsp;I&nbsp;went&nbsp;to&nbsp;meet&nbsp;him&nbsp;to&nbsp;know&nbsp;more&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;project.&nbsp;The&nbsp;collaborative&nbsp;model&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning&nbsp;called&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;was&nbsp;just&nbsp;taking&nbsp;shape&nbsp;then.&nbsp;I&nbsp;cleared&nbsp;the&nbsp;interview&nbsp;and&nbsp;was&nbsp;recruited&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;project&nbsp;at&nbsp;Homi&nbsp;Bhabha&nbsp;Centre&nbsp;for&nbsp;Science&nbsp;Education.&nbsp;In&nbsp;my&nbsp;project&nbsp;work,&nbsp;an&nbsp;important&nbsp;practice&nbsp;that&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Arunan&nbsp;carried&nbsp;out&nbsp;was&nbsp;to&nbsp;ask&nbsp;me&nbsp;to&nbsp;go&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;blackboard&nbsp;and&nbsp;explain&nbsp;the&nbsp;work&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;doing.&nbsp;He&nbsp;never&nbsp;gave&nbsp;direct&nbsp;answers,&nbsp;but&nbsp;through&nbsp;intensive&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;helped&nbsp;me&nbsp;arrive&nbsp;at&nbsp;them.&nbsp;But&nbsp;I&nbsp;failed&nbsp;to&nbsp;notice&nbsp;it&nbsp;then.&nbsp;Three&nbsp;months&nbsp;into&nbsp;my&nbsp;tenure,&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;required&nbsp;to&nbsp;train&nbsp;a&nbsp;batch&nbsp;of&nbsp;12&nbsp;young&nbsp;undergraduate&nbsp;students&nbsp;on&nbsp;various&nbsp;projects&nbsp;involving&nbsp;simple&nbsp;model&nbsp;organisms.&nbsp;It&nbsp;was&nbsp;once&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;saw&nbsp;Arunan\u2019s&nbsp;disappointed&nbsp;face&nbsp;on&nbsp;seeing&nbsp;me&nbsp;instruct&nbsp;the&nbsp;students,&nbsp;that&nbsp;I,&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;first&nbsp;time,&nbsp;understood&nbsp;that&nbsp;what&nbsp;he&nbsp;sought.&nbsp;He&nbsp;always&nbsp;wanted&nbsp;knowledge&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;constructed&nbsp;through&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;and&nbsp;not&nbsp;be&nbsp;instructed.<br>Four&nbsp;years&nbsp;later&nbsp;I&nbsp;joined&nbsp;as&nbsp;an&nbsp;Assistant&nbsp;Professor&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;Biotechnology&nbsp;department&nbsp;of&nbsp;Elphinstone&nbsp;college.&nbsp;I&nbsp;used&nbsp;to&nbsp;take&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of&nbsp;efforts&nbsp;at&nbsp;simplifying&nbsp;concepts&nbsp;so&nbsp;that&nbsp;most&nbsp;students&nbsp;understand&nbsp;my&nbsp;teaching.&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;doing&nbsp;good.&nbsp;Students&nbsp;used&nbsp;to&nbsp;understand&nbsp;my&nbsp;lectures&nbsp;well&nbsp;(or&nbsp;so&nbsp;I&nbsp;believed),&nbsp;and&nbsp;soon&nbsp;started&nbsp;looking&nbsp;forward&nbsp;to&nbsp;my&nbsp;lectures.&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;gained&nbsp;some&nbsp;popularity&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;favourite&nbsp;teacher&nbsp;among&nbsp;the&nbsp;students.&nbsp;In&nbsp;the&nbsp;Diwali&nbsp;vacations,&nbsp;I&nbsp;got&nbsp;to&nbsp;know&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;winter&nbsp;workshop&nbsp;and&nbsp;thought&nbsp;that&nbsp;this&nbsp;would&nbsp;be&nbsp;a&nbsp;good&nbsp;opportunity&nbsp;to&nbsp;expose&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;to&nbsp;research&nbsp;activities.&nbsp;So,&nbsp;I&nbsp;encouraged&nbsp;them&nbsp;to&nbsp;participate&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;workshop.&nbsp;I&nbsp;used&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;there&nbsp;along&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;students&nbsp;to&nbsp;see&nbsp;how&nbsp;they&nbsp;find&nbsp;it.&nbsp;The&nbsp;students&nbsp;very&nbsp;excitedly&nbsp;participated&nbsp;in&nbsp;many&nbsp;different&nbsp;projects.&nbsp;Like&nbsp;it&nbsp;was&nbsp;with&nbsp;me&nbsp;four&nbsp;years&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;I&nbsp;saw&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;go&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;board&nbsp;to&nbsp;describe&nbsp;their&nbsp;project&nbsp;and&nbsp;participate&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;discussion.&nbsp;On&nbsp;one&nbsp;given&nbsp;day,&nbsp;the&nbsp;discussion&nbsp;brought&nbsp;up&nbsp;the&nbsp;topic&nbsp;of&nbsp;estimating&nbsp;volumes&nbsp;of&nbsp;liquids&nbsp;while&nbsp;preparing&nbsp;culture&nbsp;media.&nbsp;The&nbsp;moment&nbsp;I&nbsp;realised&nbsp;that&nbsp;this&nbsp;topic&nbsp;has&nbsp;been&nbsp;taken&nbsp;up,&nbsp;I&nbsp;leaned&nbsp;forward&nbsp;with&nbsp;confidence.&nbsp;Just&nbsp;a&nbsp;month&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;prelude&nbsp;to&nbsp;one&nbsp;of&nbsp;my&nbsp;practicals&nbsp;with&nbsp;these&nbsp;students,&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;very&nbsp;nicey&nbsp;explained&nbsp;to&nbsp;them&nbsp;about&nbsp;making&nbsp;unit&nbsp;conversions.&nbsp;I&nbsp;remembered&nbsp;it&nbsp;as&nbsp;one&nbsp;of&nbsp;my&nbsp;best&nbsp;lectures&nbsp;at&nbsp;college.&nbsp;My&nbsp;confidence&nbsp;that,&nbsp;if&nbsp;not&nbsp;for&nbsp;anything&nbsp;else,&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;would&nbsp;certainly&nbsp;be&nbsp;able&nbsp;to&nbsp;answer&nbsp;these&nbsp;questions,&nbsp;was&nbsp;shattered&nbsp;within&nbsp;minutes,&nbsp;as&nbsp;I&nbsp;saw&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;fumble&nbsp;miserably&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;concepts&nbsp;taught&nbsp;to&nbsp;them&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;best&nbsp;of&nbsp;my&nbsp;lectures.&nbsp;And&nbsp;then&nbsp;they&nbsp;learned&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;concepts,&nbsp;but&nbsp;this&nbsp;time&nbsp;not&nbsp;by&nbsp;being&nbsp;instructed&nbsp;by&nbsp;their&nbsp;favourite&nbsp;teacher,&nbsp;but&nbsp;rather&nbsp;by&nbsp;constructing&nbsp;the&nbsp;knowledge&nbsp;themselves&nbsp;through&nbsp;a&nbsp;two-way&nbsp;discussion.&nbsp;Four&nbsp;years&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;I&nbsp;did&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;taste&nbsp;of&nbsp;this&nbsp;constructive&nbsp;way&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;working&nbsp;under&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Arunan&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;project.&nbsp;But&nbsp;inspite&nbsp;of&nbsp;knowing&nbsp;that&nbsp;constructive&nbsp;learning&nbsp;is&nbsp;better&nbsp;than&nbsp;the&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;mode,&nbsp;I&nbsp;simply&nbsp;followed&nbsp;the&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;approach&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;took&nbsp;up&nbsp;to&nbsp;teaching&nbsp;myself.&nbsp;After&nbsp;all,&nbsp;we&nbsp;all&nbsp;are&nbsp;products&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;old&nbsp;system&nbsp;of&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;learning.&nbsp;We&nbsp;all&nbsp;have&nbsp;spent&nbsp;hours&nbsp;learning&nbsp;through&nbsp;powerpoint&nbsp;presentations&nbsp;or&nbsp;diagrams&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;blackboard.&nbsp;The&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;way&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning&nbsp;is&nbsp;so&nbsp;ingrained&nbsp;that&nbsp;when&nbsp;we&nbsp;ourselves&nbsp;take&nbsp;up&nbsp;teaching,&nbsp;we&nbsp;find&nbsp;better&nbsp;organization&nbsp;in&nbsp;such&nbsp;structured&nbsp;mode&nbsp;of&nbsp;teaching.&nbsp;But&nbsp;as&nbsp;I&nbsp;sat&nbsp;that&nbsp;day&nbsp;among&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;during&nbsp;an&nbsp;active&nbsp;causerie&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;workshop,&nbsp;I&nbsp;realized&nbsp;how&nbsp;unstructured&nbsp;but&nbsp;facilitated&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;are&nbsp;way&nbsp;more&nbsp;effective&nbsp;than&nbsp;any&nbsp;instruction&nbsp;we&nbsp;do&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;aids&nbsp;of&nbsp;presentations.<br>I&nbsp;realized&nbsp;how&nbsp;effective&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;is&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;model&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning,&nbsp;not&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;a&nbsp;student&nbsp;myself,&nbsp;but&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;turned&nbsp;a&nbsp;teacher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aashutosh Mule 30th October 2021 It&nbsp;was&nbsp;a&nbsp;winter&nbsp;month&nbsp;of&nbsp;2011.&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;finished&nbsp;my&nbsp;post-graduation&nbsp;and&nbsp;was&nbsp;looking&nbsp;forward&nbsp;to&nbsp;pursue&nbsp;a&nbsp;PhD&nbsp;degree&nbsp;in&nbsp;neuroscience.&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;heard&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Masters&nbsp;in&nbsp;Neuroscience&nbsp;course&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;Life&nbsp;Science&nbsp;department&nbsp;of&nbsp;Sophia&nbsp;College.&nbsp;I&nbsp;went&nbsp;to&nbsp;meet&nbsp;the&nbsp;HOD,&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Medha&nbsp;Rajadhyaksha.&nbsp;\u201cUnfortunately&nbsp;we&nbsp;do&nbsp;not&nbsp;have&nbsp;any&nbsp;current&nbsp;openings&nbsp;for&nbsp;PhD\u201d,&nbsp;she&nbsp;sighed.&nbsp;But&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;very&nbsp;next&nbsp;moment,&nbsp;with&nbsp;a&nbsp;gleam&nbsp;in&nbsp;her&nbsp;eyes&nbsp;she&nbsp;suggested&nbsp;me&nbsp;of&nbsp;a&nbsp;neuroscience&nbsp;project&nbsp;taking&nbsp;place&nbsp;elsewhere&nbsp;for&nbsp;which&nbsp;I&nbsp;might&nbsp;take&nbsp;interest.&nbsp;She&nbsp;took&nbsp;the&nbsp;name&nbsp;of&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;M.C.&nbsp;Arunan&nbsp;and&nbsp;shared&nbsp;me&nbsp;his&nbsp;contact.I&nbsp;was&nbsp;amazed&nbsp;that&nbsp;all&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;to&nbsp;do&nbsp;was&nbsp;tell&nbsp;him&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;interested&nbsp;to&nbsp;know&nbsp;of&nbsp;his&nbsp;project&nbsp;in&nbsp;my&nbsp;first&nbsp;call,&nbsp;and&nbsp;this&nbsp;person&nbsp;started&nbsp;talking&nbsp;to&nbsp;me&nbsp;with&nbsp;such&nbsp;great&nbsp;enthusiasm,&nbsp;giving&nbsp;me&nbsp;so&nbsp;many&nbsp;different&nbsp;examples&nbsp;of&nbsp;how&nbsp;cognition&nbsp;could&nbsp;be&nbsp;studied&nbsp;in&nbsp;animals,&nbsp;almost&nbsp;as&nbsp;if&nbsp;he&nbsp;knew&nbsp;me&nbsp;since&nbsp;quite&nbsp;a&nbsp;time.&nbsp;He&nbsp;told&nbsp;me&nbsp;of&nbsp;how&nbsp;sparrows&nbsp;hop&nbsp;and&nbsp;never&nbsp;walk&nbsp;unlike&nbsp;crows&nbsp;and&nbsp;how&nbsp;this&nbsp;differing&nbsp;degree&nbsp;of&nbsp;freedom&nbsp;of&nbsp;movement&nbsp;could&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;correlation&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;complexity&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;brains.&nbsp;Drawn&nbsp;by&nbsp;this&nbsp;enthusiasm&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;mentor,&nbsp;I&nbsp;went&nbsp;to&nbsp;meet&nbsp;him&nbsp;to&nbsp;know&nbsp;more&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;project.&nbsp;The&nbsp;collaborative&nbsp;model&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning&nbsp;called&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;was&nbsp;just&nbsp;taking&nbsp;shape&nbsp;then.&nbsp;I&nbsp;cleared&nbsp;the&nbsp;interview&nbsp;and&nbsp;was&nbsp;recruited&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;project&nbsp;at&nbsp;Homi&nbsp;Bhabha&nbsp;Centre&nbsp;for&nbsp;Science&nbsp;Education.&nbsp;In&nbsp;my&nbsp;project&nbsp;work,&nbsp;an&nbsp;important&nbsp;practice&nbsp;that&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Arunan&nbsp;carried&nbsp;out&nbsp;was&nbsp;to&nbsp;ask&nbsp;me&nbsp;to&nbsp;go&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;blackboard&nbsp;and&nbsp;explain&nbsp;the&nbsp;work&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;doing.&nbsp;He&nbsp;never&nbsp;gave&nbsp;direct&nbsp;answers,&nbsp;but&nbsp;through&nbsp;intensive&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;helped&nbsp;me&nbsp;arrive&nbsp;at&nbsp;them.&nbsp;But&nbsp;I&nbsp;failed&nbsp;to&nbsp;notice&nbsp;it&nbsp;then.&nbsp;Three&nbsp;months&nbsp;into&nbsp;my&nbsp;tenure,&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;required&nbsp;to&nbsp;train&nbsp;a&nbsp;batch&nbsp;of&nbsp;12&nbsp;young&nbsp;undergraduate&nbsp;students&nbsp;on&nbsp;various&nbsp;projects&nbsp;involving&nbsp;simple&nbsp;model&nbsp;organisms.&nbsp;It&nbsp;was&nbsp;once&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;saw&nbsp;Arunan\u2019s&nbsp;disappointed&nbsp;face&nbsp;on&nbsp;seeing&nbsp;me&nbsp;instruct&nbsp;the&nbsp;students,&nbsp;that&nbsp;I,&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;first&nbsp;time,&nbsp;understood&nbsp;that&nbsp;what&nbsp;he&nbsp;sought.&nbsp;He&nbsp;always&nbsp;wanted&nbsp;knowledge&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;constructed&nbsp;through&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;and&nbsp;not&nbsp;be&nbsp;instructed.Four&nbsp;years&nbsp;later&nbsp;I&nbsp;joined&nbsp;as&nbsp;an&nbsp;Assistant&nbsp;Professor&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;Biotechnology&nbsp;department&nbsp;of&nbsp;Elphinstone&nbsp;college.&nbsp;I&nbsp;used&nbsp;to&nbsp;take&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of&nbsp;efforts&nbsp;at&nbsp;simplifying&nbsp;concepts&nbsp;so&nbsp;that&nbsp;most&nbsp;students&nbsp;understand&nbsp;my&nbsp;teaching.&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;doing&nbsp;good.&nbsp;Students&nbsp;used&nbsp;to&nbsp;understand&nbsp;my&nbsp;lectures&nbsp;well&nbsp;(or&nbsp;so&nbsp;I&nbsp;believed),&nbsp;and&nbsp;soon&nbsp;started&nbsp;looking&nbsp;forward&nbsp;to&nbsp;my&nbsp;lectures.&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;gained&nbsp;some&nbsp;popularity&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;favourite&nbsp;teacher&nbsp;among&nbsp;the&nbsp;students.&nbsp;In&nbsp;the&nbsp;Diwali&nbsp;vacations,&nbsp;I&nbsp;got&nbsp;to&nbsp;know&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;winter&nbsp;workshop&nbsp;and&nbsp;thought&nbsp;that&nbsp;this&nbsp;would&nbsp;be&nbsp;a&nbsp;good&nbsp;opportunity&nbsp;to&nbsp;expose&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;to&nbsp;research&nbsp;activities.&nbsp;So,&nbsp;I&nbsp;encouraged&nbsp;them&nbsp;to&nbsp;participate&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;workshop.&nbsp;I&nbsp;used&nbsp;to&nbsp;be&nbsp;there&nbsp;along&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;students&nbsp;to&nbsp;see&nbsp;how&nbsp;they&nbsp;find&nbsp;it.&nbsp;The&nbsp;students&nbsp;very&nbsp;excitedly&nbsp;participated&nbsp;in&nbsp;many&nbsp;different&nbsp;projects.&nbsp;Like&nbsp;it&nbsp;was&nbsp;with&nbsp;me&nbsp;four&nbsp;years&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;I&nbsp;saw&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;go&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;board&nbsp;to&nbsp;describe&nbsp;their&nbsp;project&nbsp;and&nbsp;participate&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;discussion.&nbsp;On&nbsp;one&nbsp;given&nbsp;day,&nbsp;the&nbsp;discussion&nbsp;brought&nbsp;up&nbsp;the&nbsp;topic&nbsp;of&nbsp;estimating&nbsp;volumes&nbsp;of&nbsp;liquids&nbsp;while&nbsp;preparing&nbsp;culture&nbsp;media.&nbsp;The&nbsp;moment&nbsp;I&nbsp;realised&nbsp;that&nbsp;this&nbsp;topic&nbsp;has&nbsp;been&nbsp;taken&nbsp;up,&nbsp;I&nbsp;leaned&nbsp;forward&nbsp;with&nbsp;confidence.&nbsp;Just&nbsp;a&nbsp;month&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;prelude&nbsp;to&nbsp;one&nbsp;of&nbsp;my&nbsp;practicals&nbsp;with&nbsp;these&nbsp;students,&nbsp;I&nbsp;had&nbsp;very&nbsp;nicey&nbsp;explained&nbsp;to&nbsp;them&nbsp;about&nbsp;making&nbsp;unit&nbsp;conversions.&nbsp;I&nbsp;remembered&nbsp;it&nbsp;as&nbsp;one&nbsp;of&nbsp;my&nbsp;best&nbsp;lectures&nbsp;at&nbsp;college.&nbsp;My&nbsp;confidence&nbsp;that,&nbsp;if&nbsp;not&nbsp;for&nbsp;anything&nbsp;else,&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;would&nbsp;certainly&nbsp;be&nbsp;able&nbsp;to&nbsp;answer&nbsp;these&nbsp;questions,&nbsp;was&nbsp;shattered&nbsp;within&nbsp;minutes,&nbsp;as&nbsp;I&nbsp;saw&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;fumble&nbsp;miserably&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;concepts&nbsp;taught&nbsp;to&nbsp;them&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;best&nbsp;of&nbsp;my&nbsp;lectures.&nbsp;And&nbsp;then&nbsp;they&nbsp;learned&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;concepts,&nbsp;but&nbsp;this&nbsp;time&nbsp;not&nbsp;by&nbsp;being&nbsp;instructed&nbsp;by&nbsp;their&nbsp;favourite&nbsp;teacher,&nbsp;but&nbsp;rather&nbsp;by&nbsp;constructing&nbsp;the&nbsp;knowledge&nbsp;themselves&nbsp;through&nbsp;a&nbsp;two-way&nbsp;discussion.&nbsp;Four&nbsp;years&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;I&nbsp;did&nbsp;have&nbsp;a&nbsp;taste&nbsp;of&nbsp;this&nbsp;constructive&nbsp;way&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;working&nbsp;under&nbsp;Dr.&nbsp;Arunan&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;project.&nbsp;But&nbsp;inspite&nbsp;of&nbsp;knowing&nbsp;that&nbsp;constructive&nbsp;learning&nbsp;is&nbsp;better&nbsp;than&nbsp;the&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;mode,&nbsp;I&nbsp;simply&nbsp;followed&nbsp;the&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;approach&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;took&nbsp;up&nbsp;to&nbsp;teaching&nbsp;myself.&nbsp;After&nbsp;all,&nbsp;we&nbsp;all&nbsp;are&nbsp;products&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;old&nbsp;system&nbsp;of&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;learning.&nbsp;We&nbsp;all&nbsp;have&nbsp;spent&nbsp;hours&nbsp;learning&nbsp;through&nbsp;powerpoint&nbsp;presentations&nbsp;or&nbsp;diagrams&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;blackboard.&nbsp;The&nbsp;instructive&nbsp;way&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning&nbsp;is&nbsp;so&nbsp;ingrained&nbsp;that&nbsp;when&nbsp;we&nbsp;ourselves&nbsp;take&nbsp;up&nbsp;teaching,&nbsp;we&nbsp;find&nbsp;better&nbsp;organization&nbsp;in&nbsp;such&nbsp;structured&nbsp;mode&nbsp;of&nbsp;teaching.&nbsp;But&nbsp;as&nbsp;I&nbsp;sat&nbsp;that&nbsp;day&nbsp;among&nbsp;my&nbsp;students&nbsp;during&nbsp;an&nbsp;active&nbsp;causerie&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;workshop,&nbsp;I&nbsp;realized&nbsp;how&nbsp;unstructured&nbsp;but&nbsp;facilitated&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;are&nbsp;way&nbsp;more&nbsp;effective&nbsp;than&nbsp;any&nbsp;instruction&nbsp;we&nbsp;do&nbsp;with&nbsp;the&nbsp;aids&nbsp;of&nbsp;presentations.I&nbsp;realized&nbsp;how&nbsp;effective&nbsp;CUBE&nbsp;is&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;model&nbsp;of&nbsp;learning,&nbsp;not&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;was&nbsp;a&nbsp;student&nbsp;myself,&nbsp;but&nbsp;when&nbsp;I&nbsp;turned&nbsp;a&nbsp;teacher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.10.0","language":"te","enabled_languages":["en","hi","te"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"hi":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"te":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kishorebharati.org\/te\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}