The demonstration helped the professors consider how novices think about concepts in a new discipline. This enabled them to see that there are different ways to perceive and teach the same subject matter, Day said. The professors had gathered at Duke for a three-day course offered through the National Science Foundation's Chautauqua program. The program enables faculty to learn about new ideas that they can take back to their own college classrooms. During much of the program, the professors take courses with peers in their field.
Day offers the rare course that draws a crowd across disciplines.
Day challenges professors to consider their own mental processes as well as those of their students. Rather than being offended by this idea, faculty rethink their teaching assumptions and practices. Afterwards, they often write Day to report their teaching has improved and also to request a follow-up course. Day offers two cognition and teaching courses. In Part 1, she covers basic cognitive processes such as perception, attention, memory and comprehension.