In my view, it is a nice example of guidance through withdrawal of
information. Also, it is interesting how the voice of the author tries to
ally the reader as "we" against "them" (his students) only to turn the table
around to ask if "you" (the reader) is really "us" (experts? wizards?
smarts?) or "them" (students, novices?, naives?) in his question "can you?"
I do not want to criticize the author or enjoyment of riddles (only when
they are not graded exams), I just want to make my observation on author's
style. I apologize in advanced for unintended objectification of Bill
Gabrenya.
Eugene
------------------------------------
Eugene Matusov
Willard Hall#206G
Department of Educational Studies
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716, USA
phone: (302) 831-1266
fax: (302) 831-4445
email: ematusov who-is-at UDel.edu
web: http://www.ematusov.com
------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Cole <mcole who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu>
To: xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
Date: Thursday, December 11, 1997 4:15 PM
Subject: products of education
>
>I am forwarding this message from a cross-cultural discussion list.
>What does it mean for the practice of education?
>mike
>----
>>From: Bill Gabrenya <gabrenya who-is-at fit.edu>
>Subject: Here's a way to torture your students
>
>Dear XCULers,
>
>I learned something interesting earlier this week during my undergraduate
>social psychology final exam that I would like to pass along to you all.
>
>After the regular exam, I asked my students to work in their established
>small groups (which had been used throughout the course for various
>projects) to answer this essay question:
>
>"Throughout the course, Gabrenya has made the point that American
>psychological social psychology is a product of the American Middle Class,
>and that it has a politically liberal, humanistic value bias (which can be
>good or bad, depending on your point of view). Choose one theory or topic
>of study from this course, and show how it would be approached differently
>(a different kind of theory, a different view of the topic, a different
>type of research, etc.) if it were produced by people from a distinctly
>different social background (i.e., different from liberal American Middle
>Class; need not be different on all 3 dimensions). Bonus: do not use the
>word "different" in your answer."
>
>Some groups immediately interepreted the problem in terms of how people
>different from themselves would behave in a certain domain, for example,
>how middle- and working-class people would differ in helping behavior. But
>of course, this is not the question at all. After I explained what I
>really wanted several times to each group, it became clear that they simply
>could not answer this kind of question.
>
>Can you?
>
>Have a nice holiday,
>
>Bill Gabrenya