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University must not produce matriculated sponges!

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Tricks to engage students with learning
Norman Greenwood Scientist
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We designed... essay subjects where the student had to think about it. And one other little trick I introduced at that stage was I found that a student got more interested in a subject if they felt they had a proprietary right to that particular one. So, instead of saying write an essay on the chemistry of mercury, let us say, I would have, make a case for including element... the element mercury, in the syllabus of chemistry; why would anyone want to learn it? And so he was committed, or she was committed, to thinking why it was important and automatically then learnt a good deal about the chemistry of the element.

Norman Greenwood (1925-2012) was born in Australia and graduated from Melbourne University before going to Cambridge. His wide-ranging research in inorganic and structural chemistry made major advances in the chemistry of boron hydrides and other main-group element compounds. He also pioneered the application of Mössbauer spectroscopy to problems in chemistry. He was a prolific writer and inspirational lecturer on chemical and educational themes, and held numerous visiting professorships throughout the world.

Listeners: Brian Johnson

Professor Brian FG Johnson FRS, FRSE, FRS Chem, FAcad Eu, FAS. Professor of Inorganic Chemistry University of Edinburgh 1991-1995, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry University of Cambridge 1995-2005, Master Fitzwilliam College Cambridge 1999-2005. Research interests include studies of transition metal carbonyls, organometallic chemistry, nano- particles and homogeneous catalysis. Professor Johnson is the author of over 1000 research articles and papers.

Tags: students, essay, teaching style, chemistry

Duration: 58 seconds

Date story recorded: May 2011

Date story went live: 25 November 2011