Prof. Alley: (Singing) Around a burning ring of fire…
Host: This man in black appears on a homemade educational video, one of many Richard B. Alley has made as 5)the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University. Hey, professor. So I saw some of your stuff on the Web. How long have you been doing this? Does this work?
Prof. Alley: Oh, a couple of years, and we hope so. Seems like the students are having a good time, so that’s worth something.
Host: So, what gave you the idea to do it this way, when, sing and dance and, you know, talk about earthquakes?
Prof. Alley: Well, I love music. And I’m trying to reach the student. When you go to 900, 1,000 in a class, I don’t know their names. I can’t get into their heads; they can’t get into my head easily. And so, how do we personalize it? How do we give them something that’s extra, in exchange for them putting up with this big class?
Host: And the students in class, do you find that their grades are improving? They’re actually learning the stuff that you’re teaching?
Prof. Alley: It seems like the grades have come up. And we put a big smile on that.
Host: You’re working on a new song?
Prof. Alley: We have a few around. This one should be done by piano because we’re trying to channel Billy Joel here, a little bit, with the Piano Man.
Host: Oh, so, is this called Geoman?
Prof. Alley: It is, indeed, called Geoman. (Singing) Sing us a song, you’re the Geoman. What was and what is and will be on this blue-green ball spinning as fast as we can, with rocks, water, air, you and me.
主持人:约翰尼·卡什在演唱《爱的火圈》的时候,他的脑子里绝对不会想到地质学。
(歌曲)它燃烧,燃烧,燃烧,火圈……
主持人:可如果你把地球科学家理查德·阿利也考虑进去,一首关于爱情的歌曲就成了美国宾夕法尼亚州州立大学初学阶段的地质专业学生的学习工具。
阿利教授:(唱)围绕着正在燃烧的火……
主持人:在这个自制教育视频中出现的黑衣男人是宾州州立大学地球科学系曾获埃文·皮尤教授奖的理查德·阿利教授,这是他制作的许多视频中的一个。教授,你好。我在网上看到你的东西了。你这么做已经有多长时间了?这种做法有效吗?
阿利教授:哦,有两年了,我们当然希望这种做法有效。看起来学生很开心,这很重要。
主持人:那么,你是怎么想到这个做法的呢?你知道,也就是在讨论地震时又唱又跳?
阿利教授:呃,我自己很喜欢音乐,同时,我也想把知识传授给学生。如果你教的一个班有九百到一千名学生,你不可能知道他们的姓名。我不了解他们,他们也不可能轻易地了解我。于是这就带来一个问题:我们怎么样才能让教学更个性化呢?他们来上这种大课,我们怎么样才能给他们一点额外的东西?
主持人:那你有没有发现你这么做后,学生的成绩有所提高?他们是不是真的学到你教的内容?
阿利教授:成绩似乎上来了,这一点让我们感到欣慰。
主持人:你目前在写一首新歌?
阿利教授:有好几首。这一首应该用钢琴表演,因为我们想借《钢琴家》稍微宣传一下比利·乔。
主持人:哦,那你的歌就叫《地质学家》?
阿利教授:是的,确实是叫《地质学家》。(唱)给我们唱首歌,你就是地质学家。在这个有岩石、水、空气,有你和我的飞快旋转的蓝绿色星球上,它的前世、今生和未来是什么?
