In the news today, it was reported that we have a chance of reaching record highs in unemployment, even as high as 14%. During our past recession, we got as high as 10% unemployment and that was devastating to the economy and the people who lost jobs. I do not want to take anything away from those struggling today, but historically speaking it does give us some perspective of how bad it was for those who lived through the Great Depression. For the ten years of the 1930’s we got as high as 25% unemployment. We are hoping to get back to normal and get everyone working by summer if we are lucky. In the Great Depression they struggled for a decade. We at least have food. There were those out in the dust bowl salting and eating tumbleweeds. Our grandparents got through those trying times, we can get through ours.
Historically Speaking 
There has been much debate as to whether or not lecturing actually improves student learning in the classroom. Commonly cited disadvantages of lecture include: placing students in a passive (rather than an active) role, encouraging one-way communication, requiring significant out-of-class time for students to engage with the material, and requiring the speaker to possess effective speaking skills. College is a place where a professor’s lecture notes go straight to the students’ lecture notes, without passing through the brains of either.
LikeLike