Why should I buy any of these Socratic dialogues?

 

 

Student:    I’ve been wondering, what is a Socratic dialogue?  I mean, I hear all this hype about Socratic dialogues – what’s all the commotion about?  I’m just going to straight-up ask you what a Socratic dialogue is.

Professor:  A Socratic dialogue is an ancient teaching technique.  Rather than presenting the learner with a single person telling them how things work (i.e. a monologue), the reader is presented with a conversation between two people (i.e. a dialogue).  Usually, a Socratic dialogue is a conversation between a teacher and a student.  What you’re reading now is an example of a Socratic dialogue.

Student:    What’s so great about that?  Wouldn’t that be more confusing?

Professor:  Actually, when they’re trying to learn something, most people find it much easier to read a dialogue than a monologue.  You see, a dialogue allows the author to explain things more clearly.  It also allows the author to answer questions that the reader is likely to be wondering.  Furthermore, a dialogue more closely resembles the thought processes of how people actually learn.

Student:    Well, if these so-called “Socratic dialogues” are so great, why don’t high school teachers and college professors use them more often?

Professor:  That’s a good question.  I was wondering that same thing myself.  I suppose one reason is that writing a Socratic dialogue takes a lot of imagination and creativity.  Often times, instructors just can’t find that creativity within themselves.  Also, Socratic dialogues take quite a bit of time to write.  I suppose the last reason is that some regard them as a form of spoon-feeding. 

Student:    So I guess they’re totally a lost art nowadays.

Professor:  Yes, they’re becoming that way.  Most teachers teach in the way that they were taught, and Socratic dialogues aren’t a part of how most people were taught.  The main proponents of Socratic dialogues these days are philosophers and educational psychologists.

Student:    So are they more effective than conventional textbooks?

Professor:  I’ll let you be the judge, but a vast majority of people find them more informative and far easier to read than traditional “monologues”.

Student:    I guess I can just read these dialogues instead of reading my book and doing all that stupid homework.

Professor:  Um, actually I wouldn’t recommend that.  Let’s say that you’re studying chemistry.  Although there are lots of concepts that are discussed in every introductory textbook out there, there’s no way that these dialogues could cover every concept covered in every book.  Basically, these dialogues cover the major points that are typically covered.  The purpose of these dialogues is to get the reader to a point where they can read the text book.  These dialogues are not so much a replacement for the textbook as they are a supplement to the textbook.  The dialogues get you to a point where the reader understands enough of the foundational concepts so that they can go read the book and actually understand what they’re reading.  Also, don’t forget to work some problems from the textbook.  These dialogues should get you to a point to where you can extract what you need from the book and/or the lecturer.

Student:    There are lots of dialogues, though.  It seems like I could rack up quite a bill at this website.

Professor:  I agree, there is lots of material here to purchase.  But think of it like this:  Most of the paid dialogues are 20 pages or more.  If you count page for page, the dialogues are cheaper than your textbook – and besides you probably get more out of reading these than you do out of trying to read your textbook alone.  You can also think of the price you would spend here versus what you would spend on a tutor.  Most people pay between $15 and $20 an hour for a tutor, or even more!  A 20 page dialogue is content-wise usually worth about 2 hours of tutoring.  Besides, you can read and re-read a dialogue as many times as you want.  If you think about it, these dialogues are actually a good value for the money

Student:    Well, I suppose I’ll keep searching this site to find more of these things.  Maybe I’ll even get some of the paid dialogues to help me out in my course.

Professor:  Have fun!