Tricks to engage students with learning

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University must not produce matriculated sponges!

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Tricks to engage students with learning

Norman Greenwood Scientist

		Views	Duration
121. I held the first Chair of Inorganic Chemistry in the UK		54	00:50
122. Negotiations for the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at Newcastle...		50	02:10
123. Planning help at Newcastle University		41	01:14
124. Thinking about the purpose of a university education	1	51	03:51
125. How to teach an ever-updating chemistry field		53	02:17
126. Developing my students' education		51	01:28
127. Tricks to engage students with learning		70	00:58
128. University must not produce matriculated sponges!		45	01:46
129. Creating Chemistry Centres for school teachers		33	01:40
130. The Royal Institute's 'travelling circus'		31	00:47

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We designed... essay subjects where the student had to think about it. And one other little trick I introduced at that stage was I found that a student got more interested in a subject if they felt they had a proprietary right to that particular one. So, instead of saying write an essay on the chemistry of mercury, let us say, I would have, make a case for including element... the element mercury, in the syllabus of chemistry; why would anyone want to learn it? And so he was committed, or she was committed, to thinking why it was important and automatically then learnt a good deal about the chemistry of the element.

Norman Greenwood (1925-2012) was born in Australia and graduated from Melbourne University before going to Cambridge. His wide-ranging research in inorganic and structural chemistry made major advances in the chemistry of boron hydrides and other main-group element compounds. He also pioneered the application of Mössbauer spectroscopy to problems in chemistry. He was a prolific writer and inspirational lecturer on chemical and educational themes, and held numerous visiting professorships throughout the world.

Title: Tricks to engage students with learning

Listeners: Brian Johnson

Professor Brian FG Johnson FRS, FRSE, FRS Chem, FAcad Eu, FAS. Professor of Inorganic Chemistry University of Edinburgh 1991-1995, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry University of Cambridge 1995-2005, Master Fitzwilliam College Cambridge 1999-2005. Research interests include studies of transition metal carbonyls, organometallic chemistry, nano- particles and homogeneous catalysis. Professor Johnson is the author of over 1000 research articles and papers.

Tags: students, essay, teaching style, chemistry

Duration: 58 seconds

Date story recorded: May 2011

Date story went live: 25 November 2011