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[quote=Anonymous]I'm a college professor who prefers seminars to lecture course.  Actually, it's easier to teach lecture courses -- you can outsource grading to grad students, you don't have to get to know your students, you generally are in a position where you put out your POV on its own terms rather than figure out where your audience is coming from and try to get them from there to where you want them to be.  The students are pretty much compelled to be relatively passive.

By contrast, to teach a seminar well you have to have exceptionally good listening skills.  You have the opportunity to get to know each student's writing and help them progress.  Small group discussions enable you to get to a depth of analysis and level of detail that would lose people in a lecture.  You can create challenging syllabi and sometimes even choose students so you know you're dealing with a group that is ready, willing, and able (even eager) to go fast and far.  And who will not only be challenged but will challenge you to look at things from different perspectives (not just the obvious ones or the ones well-represented in the literature) and to focus on details that wouldn't otherwise be salient to you.

As a student, I'd also rather be in the seminar -- usually I got to learn from (and about and to respect) at least some of my fellow students as well as my professors.   I prepared more carefully and more actively for seminar (who knows what will happen and what part you'll want to play or be asked to play?) than for lecture (set the alarm clock, find a pen and paper).  And as a parent, I want my kid to be experiencing all of these things (and I have a greater appreciation for the no place to hide aspect of seminars!)

Bottom line, some challenges are more pedagogically useful than other.   The challenges I want in a classroom are the kind that improve my kid's learning.  [/quote]

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