week 6 readings

This week’s three articles are insightful. I personally experienced the different physical setting of American and Chinese classrooms but did not seriously think of the possible differences this may make on the students’ learning outcomes. In China we tend to sit in rows and there are limited interactions between students and teachers. Due to the huge student population, only a few numbers of students can get the chance to speak and get heard in classes. But I believe that if we divide the students into smaller groups and make them sit in circles, more meaningful communications might occur since there will be more eye contacts and people are more likely to pay attention to the person who is speaking when they are within their sight.
In a computer environment, students have an equal opportunity to get their ideas heard if they type. Shy students or students who are less articulate can be more comfortable sharing their inputs. The charts and tables in Palmquists’ article demonstrated how computers play an active role in composition classes. The only thing in the computer-based classroom is how participation is evaluated. Usually in such classrooms, participation is evaluated based on how many messages he posts. So a good learner may not be considered an active participant even if he is quite engaged in thinking. Teachers and students can assume that he went for a drink during the class. However, I do agree that students get more work done in a computer-based class.