The Precis

Here's a link on how to write a precis.  And here's a sample one.

This is a tool I use in my class when a good deal of new information needs to be communicated through the writings of different authors.  I want to make sure the students are 1. doing their readings, 2. comprehending the articles, 3. able to contribute well to class discussions on the material.

Students are also able to synthesize the ideas from different authors/change agents into something from their own minds.

I often ask the students to write a precis for each reading and include a short one paragraph reflection of the group of articles at the end of their submission.

Learning Styles

Having 24 students makes it difficult to meet everyone's needs in a cross-cultural environment.  Some get it, some don't.  Some voraciously take notes, some fall asleep in the back of a lecture. 

Here's Wikipedia Learning Styles
Thus, research on what people think about how people learn.

David Kolb (my hero) introduced a really conplicated learning model that, even after 10 years of studying it, I still don't truly understand the difference between all of the quadrants. 

I've taught the DISC method, and "What color are you?" things.
None of it really sticks, and it all seems like a cheap 'soul-searching' workshop marketed toward the same folks that fall into the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People world - that we actually have control over our environment by knowing something about it.

Makes me think of that story of the guy that gets shot with the poisoned arrow and rather than pulling it out of his chest, he starts thinking, "Who shot that arrow? What kind of duck feather is on the end of it? What type of poison was on the tip?  How big is the arrowhead?"  Like that. 

waste of time?