15 years ago I took a sabbatical to explore ways to enhance student learning. 

Asked to shared my findings when I returned, I offered a workshop called “Stretch Your Teaching Comfort Zone”. It was designed to challenge the assumptions we as profs had about teaching … our choices about content, methods, tools, and expectations. 

I suggested that students had a different comfort zone. That they’d thrive when provided with autonomy, authentic tasks, and the opportunity to express their ideas and efforts using methods and tools that may be different from ours.

I also noted that for many students, learning meant getting marks. They practiced shallow and strategic learning to get the required marks. They’d go through the motions and jump through whatever hoops we threw at them. I even quoted a student who claimed “I only have time to do it, I don’t have time to learn it.”

It seems that not much has changed. Maybe now’s the time to truly stretch our teaching comfort zones!