“Dr. Margaret Peacock is always asking ‘why.’
“Why, for instance, should she deliver a traditional-style lecture when technology and online classes have diminished its value? The answer, in Peacock’s eyes, is simple: She shouldn’t.
“‘I’m not convinced that group work is best, either,’ said Peacock, an assistant professor in the Department of History. ‘Students hate group work. Inevitably, a few read, but others don’t and end up sitting there and receiving credit without contributing. It tells them that they don’t need or have to do the work, and they don’t learn anything.’
“So Peacock takes a different approach, one that is anything but conventional.
“In one exercise, she has each of her students write a different discussion question on the board, and she selects the five best questions to discuss in class that day.
“The trick? Getting to those last few questions.” …