Turning the Classroom Upside Down

The Wall Street Journal has Salman Khan explain his amazing academy:

We all know the standard drill for a math class. The teacher delivers lectures on a new concept, students do some homework problems, and after a few weeks they take an exam. Some do well, some do poorly, and then it's on to the next topic.


The problem with this model of instruction is that it leaves behind large gaps in understanding. For A students, it might be a 5% gap, for C students a 30% gap. But all of them end up with a Swiss-cheese education—full of holes. Little wonder that, when they reach algebra and calculus, they often struggle. It's like being trained to juggle oranges half-competently and then being expected to juggle knives.

You'll want to read this.