I've always believed that students should learn not to fear ambiguity. When I first started teaching I would - like any other freshly-minted PhD (technically I was pre-minted) - compensate for my lack of confidence by packing course material full of content. I had only 30 hours to teach a course that covered Micro and Macro economics, and created all my material from scratch. I was used to students complaining that we were covering too much, and they were right. But I was uneasy about the complaint that "things weren't clear". The message I tried to give was that I wasn't intending for it to be "clear" as soon as the lecture ended. For me the lecture was one stage of the learning process, which is complemented by wider reading and contemplation. I asked them to give me the benefit of the doubt, and reserve judgment until the end of the course. I'm not sure how accurate this was, but I do remember once after class when a student broke into tears at the thought of having to understand everything I'd been saying. Over a year later I spoke to her at graduation and (probably out of politeness), she said that she had indeed learnt a lot and as the course went on things began falling into place. I'm sure others remained in a perpetual state of confusion, and that's my error.
However the message I try to give is that entering the classroom is not like entering a pit lane. You don't drive in, get your tyres changed, and then go back out onto the track. You are supposed to be confused, because you can't learn anything unless you leave your comfort zone and travel into a state of ignorance. The feeling of your brain hurting is a good sign.
The Case Method is fundamentally ambiguous. It deals in ambiguity. It takes complex situations and weights up conflict. There is never a "solution", and students leave class with many unanswered questions. Most Professors here refuse to summarise at the end of a session, and actively avoid a "takeway". If you end class with a neat summary the student will consider the learning process over. You want them to continue thinking about the topics. You want them to be agitated, and restless.
Most nursery tales end with the line, "and they all lived happily ever after", and students want that in their lectures. They want the "so what" so that they can file it away and think about other things. The best novels and movies tend to be open ended, they tend to leave things unanswered. They stay with you. That's how class should be - one stage on a journey of discovery. When I get home I'll delete the "summary" slide for all my presentations. That's something for the students to discover for themselves.
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