Thiswasnoordinaryclass.ThestudentswhocametogetherwereallscienceorengineeringprofessorsatCornellUniversity.Theyhadinterruptedtheirresearchtoacceptaninvitationtotakepartinanunusualexperiment:“aninterestingweekofpoetry.”Thisclasswaspartofastudytoanswerthequestions:Whyissciencedifficultformanynonsciencestudents?Whatcanteacherslearnaboutteachingiftheytakeaclassthatisnotintheirfield?
Thestudentsinthepoetryclasslistenedtolecturesandtooknotes.Theyhadreadingtasksandhadtowritethreeshortpapers.Allstudentsnoticedonethingtheimportanceofspokenwords.Inscienceandengineeringclassestheinstructorsputtablesanddrawingsontheblackboard.Butinthispoetryclasstheinstructorsjusttalked.Theydidn’twriteanythingontheboard.
Thescientistsandengineersnoticedonesimilaritybetweenscienceandpoetry.Inbothsubjectsstudentsneedtofindlayers(层次) ofmeaning.Somelayersaresimplecleanandonthesurface;otherlayersaredeeperandmoredifficult.Thissearchfordifferentlevelsofmeaningdoesn’thappenmuchinundergraduate(本科) scienceclassesbutitisimportantlateringraduateschool.Anditisalwaysimportantinhumanities(人文科学).
Boththepoetryinstructorsandtheirstudentslearnedsomethingaboutteachingfromthisexperience.Onepoetryinstructorforexamplenowseestheimportanceofusinginformativeasheteaches.Mostofthescientistsagreedonseveralpoints.Firsthumanitiesclassesmighthelpsciencestudentstoseepatternsanddecidewhichinformationisimportant.Secondthepoetryclasswasfun.Oneengineerdecided“Weneedtochangethewayweteachengineeringtomaketomakeitanenjoyableexperienceforstudents.”
Butperhapsthemostimportantresultoftheexperiencewasthis;Alloftheprofessorsbegantothinkabouthowtheyteachandhowtheycamteachbetter.
49. Whatdoweknowaboutthisunusualclass?
A.Theteachersdidlotsofwritingontheboard
B.Theteacherwereinvitedtoattendseverallectures.
C.Thestudentwereprofessorsfromauniversity
D.Thestudentswerestudyingscienceandhumanities.
50.Theexperimentwasdesignedtofindout
A.howtotea