Educational system at Stanford, i.e. how do they do it in US

Spending a week at the University we have had a chance to fell the local climate. The moment come at which certain schemes became visible, which are favored by the lecturers, and upon which the philosophy of teaching at Stanford is based. In general the approach to the student some how resembles business approach. Students are never left alone and practically at every level are encouraged to study and broaden their knowledge. It is obvious that each student is equipped with a laptop computer that can be used in classes, well prepared, having sufficient infrastructure with many power sockets and of course fast wireless internet access. But the the most interesting is the way of passing the knowledge. But it is easier to present it with the following points:   

Laboratories:

-         Unlimited access to the laboratories, classrooms for meeting and group work.

-         There is no biased judgment of the students and no unjustified forcing for studying irrelevant information, only straight to the point and real-life oriented material.

-         Individually adjusted program, about 80% of lectures are selectable.

-         High access to support materials, and novelties provided on the Univ. web page.

 

Lectures:

-        Lectures are given by highly qualified staff.

-       Every lecture is given in a friendly fashion, starting with easy and proceeding to more advanced information.

-        Lectures are recorded with the cameras.

-       There is a policy of taking questions form the audience with the approach that there are no stupid questions, only the answer can be stupid.

-        Every lecture ends with at least 10 minute long time for discussion.

-        The lectures are oriented at passing certain way of reasoning and approach rather than at killing students with the enormous amount of unbearable knowledge.

-         Very often lectures start with activities that allow the group to actively participate.

Every moment devoted to learning

This is probably the most interesting issue that is noticeable. Practically at every point of the campus there are possibilities to study, everywhere there is information streaming and every moment is good opportunity to learn. Each student having internet access either with their computer, smart phone or a tablet can watch lectures, even waiting for a bus at a bus stop. Even personal notebooks available at the library have tips and information on how to study at Stanford and also important supplementary information about healthily living, efficient resting, and sport activities to keep the right balance between studying and physical fit. Materials available on the internet are well prepared, and at the same time you don’t need to loose time for information searching.    


Electronic systems - present everywhere

As an example we can recall interactive on-line test showing the modular functionality of a human brain by means of a funny cartoon story. Test is based on the HDBI model, see yourself the sample:

What is more interesting, all puzzles of teaching at Stanford became a one solid piece and can be personalized for specified topics according to current needs. By that every student or group of students can have individually adjusted theme profile, which is controlled by means of individual student accounts, with large flexibility for modification and adjustment.

It is seen that the system is well thought and modular. Practically everybody can learn new interesting stuff without stress and in their own timing. There is no surprising to see students seating on the Univ. lawn with their computers, talking professional stuff in theme groups, or simply discussing scientific topics at the entrance stairway.   

Weronika T. Adrian, Sławomir Gruszczyński, Eliasz Kańtoch & Daniel Prusak