A young Burmese boy has his head shaved by an older monk as part of a Shinbyu ceremony. This ritual novice hood initiation occurs before a boy enters a monastery, as is custom in Myanmar for boys between the ages of 10 and 20. (Courtesy of Dietmar Temps on Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. Graham Jones
MIT Course Number
21A.150
As Taught In
Fall 2014
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course explores the diverse ways that people teach and learn—in different countries, in different disciplines, and in different subcultures. We will discuss how theories of learning can be applied to a variety of hands-on, in-class learning activities. We compare schooling to other forms of knowledge transmission from initiation and apprenticeship to recent innovations in online education such as MOOCs. Students will employ a range of qualitative methods in conducting original research on topics of their choice.