Rollins College - Tomokan Yearbook (Winter Park, FL)

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This is how it might be done, says Don Allen. The Conference PI not to lecture their students, but rather work along with them, to encourage the student to become the lecturer. It provides both group discussion, and personal contacts between the stu- dent and his instructor, allowing for various approaches to the same prob- lems according to the student ' s partic- ular maturity, background and sensi- tivity. In personal interviews, alone with the instructor, the student can put the questions which most bother him, and the instructor has a chance to make constructive criticisms, and to check on the student ' s progress. The instructor at the end of a term has a good chance to know his students quite well, and has a reasonable basis for judging the students ' ability and achievement. Mrs. Lamb says, The Conference Plan as I use it in teaching Spanish is based mainly on my effort to develop the character of the student. I have conferences concerning class work but others which refer to it only incidentally. These conferences are not held on any set day or days but I have them only when I feel them necessary. The Conference Plan is used in my courses, answered Prof. Rhea M. Smith, with the aim of en- couraging each student to take the initiative in the process of learning and to stimulate his interest in history as well as an impartial approach to and understanding of historical problems. The student is assigned his work at the beginning of the term and as far as possible the course is adapted to the interests or major subject of the student. In the Lower Division courses, the student works as thoroughly and rapidly as he is able with the assistance of a syllabus and recourse to me whenever difficulties arise. In the Upper Division courses he is assigned specific problems for detailed study and the reading necessary to give him an understanding of the general evolution during the period under consideration. One of the many advantages of the Confer- ence Plan, said Donald S. Allen, Director of Stu- dent Dramatics, is its flexibility. Certain courses Trow leading the discussion. develops the character of the student ' — Mrs. Lamb. P€R€NNU H€R MOD PALM AND ON H€R. F i

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In courses such as the one I conduct in French Civilization, said Baron d ' Estournelles, a com- plete adherence to the Conference Plan would fail to bear fruit because students who register for such a course are, as a rule, unprepared, and can not find enough reading material at hand to fit conference needs. I therefore have to afford most of the basic information myself before we can start discussion on the course. It has proved quite possible on the other hand to build the subject to a point where a free exchange of views proves satisfactory and stimulating. In order to compen- sate for some of the difficulties I just quoted, I reserve a certain number of hours a week for in- dividual conferences. I also find it highly profitable to ask students from time to time to talk to the class for fifteen minutes on some point of the course I did not speak of myself. In which case I become the student and the student becomes the pro- fessor. This type of exercise facili- tated by the informal Rollins method develops in the individual as well as in the group, a taste for articulate expression and coordination of thought. According to Dean Enyart, The word conference implies a meeting for counsel or discussion. This may be applied to a large group; as, the class as a unit, or to smaller groups, or to individuals. I make use of all three applica- tions. In general my class meetings consist of discussions either between members of the class and the teacher or between individual members of the class. Frequently, however, small groups will meet for discus- sion, interpretation and instruction. At other times individuals may have particular problems which need clearing up. At these times the student and teacher meet together in private. I have abandoned the formal lecture system entirely and resort to the lecture method only when the question is of general interest and importance or of controversial nature. At these times the authority of a more experienced mind may be necessary to reach a conclusion. C. O. Honaas, director of the con- servatory, says, The problems of each student are discussed and the Plan for both Lower and Upper Division is de- signed to serve the individual needs of each student. All classes in each sub- ject meet in small groups and individ- ual conferences when desirable. In regard to the Conference plan. Prof. Trowbridge believes, The Con- ference Plan, allowing five two-hour periods per week, for each class, the time to be used as each instructor feels he can best use it to the most effec- tive teaching, is a most fortunate pro- vision for those teachers who wish to individualize education, and who wish Prof. Honnas becomes the pupil. The Dean clearing up a problem. -25-

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can be taught exclusively by this method, while the teaching procedure of others has to be determined by the nature of the subjects. Such is the case in the dramatic art department. In it some of the courses are definitely group courses and are taught as such The class in Stagecraft is an example of a class in which the students work in groups on specified jobs in connec- tion with the technical requirements of the produc- tions. The courses in acting also require group work. However, it is the aim of the department to give as much attention as possible to the individual needs of the students in these classes. In teaching the classes in play direction, costume and scenic design, we attempt to teach according to the conference method. In my courses there is an advantage to classroom study, for here the student ' s time is well protected from outside distraction and interruption. It is a time he can count on for his work, with the professor at hand to assist him in the use of reference works, says Wil- lard Wattles. It seems to me that the Conference System is a method of instruction by which students may learn from one another as well as from the in- structor. By it the instructor also may continually add to his own understanding by conference and discussion with his students. Whether the student by this system learns as much as under other systems I do not know. We hope, however, that he does understand better what he learns. Come in and see me anytime of the day — Dr. Smith. The Conference Plan of classroom instruction has become, after twelve years, an acknowledged tradition at Rollins. The operation of the plan naturally varies with the subject taught, and also with the teacher. Its universal contribution, however, has been the establishing of a close and friendly relation between the professor and the students, says Professor Edwin Osgood Grover. I do not see how my courses could be successfully taught under the formal lecture system. The Conference Plan has changed the physical appearance of all the classrooms. In place of the mathematical arrangement of chairs in rows, it has substituted long tables about which the students gather. In many cases it has pictures on the classroom walls, and even draperies at some of the windows! The professors ' desks are no longer on raised platforms, like altars before which the stu- dents bow in worship. The professor sits at the head of the table — and the conference begins.