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Can We Teach Computers to Teach?
Eric Mazur
Computers in Physics, 5, 31-38 (1991). export citation
The computer has become a mandatory tool in academia and
business. A walk around a university campus is likely to show that
there are as many computers as there are students, faculty and
staff. Outside the campus many of our daily activities have to do
with computers: banking, reservations, check-out registers at
supermarkets, not to mention all the computer-generated mail we
receive every day.Surprisingly, in education the computer is
still not a very much appreciated newcomer. One reason for this is
that until not so long ago computers were text-oriented, accepting
only commands in the forms of words. Such "educational" software
usually emulated multiple-choice exams. Naturally, such programs
could not keep anyone's attention very long. Another reason for
the small inroads computers have made in education is that
computers usually excel at doing routine tasks while education
normally is all but routine. I don't think computers will replace
teachers, but I am confident, however, that computers will play an
important role in improving teaching. To illustrate this I will discuss
several projects pertaining to computers in education in which I am
involved, which, naturally, are in my own discipline, physics.
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