Cell Biol Educ 3(4): 204-211 2004
DOI: 10.1187/cbe.04-07-0055
© 2004 American Society for Cell Biology
Points of View: Lectures: Can't Learn with Them, Can't Learn without Them
Talking Biology: Learning Outside the Bookand the Lecture
Daniel J. Klionsky
Life Sciences Institute and Departments of Molecular Cellular and
Developmental Biology and Biological Chemistry University of Michigan Ann
Arbor, MI 48109
Note from the Editors
Points of View (POV) addresses issues faced by many people within the
life science education community. Cell Biology Education (CBE) has
launched the POV Feature to present two or more opinions published in tandem
on a common topic. We consider POVs to be "Op-Ed" pieces designed
to stimulate thought and dialog on significant educational issues. Each author
had the opportunity to revise or add to his/her POV after reading drafts of
the other's POV.
In this issue, we ask the question, "What is the appropriate role
of the lecture format for teaching?" Many teaching methods are used
around the world, but the "tried and true" lecture format is
surely the best known and probably the most common. To what extent should
lectures be used and how would we know if they are effective or merely
convenient? The POVs in this issue are grounded in different class settings
and teaching philosophies, and yet they share a subset of common principles
that are evident on careful reading. Harvey Lodish, Professor of Biology at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is well known for coauthoring a cell
biology textbook and is the current President of the American Society for Cell
Biology. Dan Klionsky is Professor of Life Sciences at the University of
Michigan; in 2003 he received the National Science Foundation Director's Award
for Distinguished Teaching Scholars in recognition for his high-quality
research and teaching. Both authors are deeply concerned about the quality of
instruction in their own classrooms as well as nationally, but they differ in
many of their teaching methods. Readers are encouraged to compare the authors'
perspectives and share their thoughts and reactions using the online
discussion forum hosted by CBE at
http://www.cellbioed.org/discussion/public/main.cfm.
Our knowledge of biology has been changing dramatically, yet most of us
continue to teach biology the same way we have for the past century. In fact,
teaching styles have not changed substantially since before the invention of
the printing press. A current wave of reform in undergraduate science
education has prompted many instructors to move away from a passive learning
format in which the instructor attempts to convey knowledge to students
through lectures and note taking. They are replacing this approach with ones
that involve active learning. In this article, I describe my own conversion
from teaching with a lecture format to the development of an active-learning
approach (Klionsky, 1998,
2001;
Klionsky and Tomashek, 1999).
Along the way, I was introduced to several important concepts such as the
difference between "teaching" and "learning," the need
to set learning goals and to utilize methods of assessment, and the value of
becoming aware of the pedagogic research and adapting it to courses taught
even at research-oriented universities.
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RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM
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I have taught introductory biology for the past 15 years. For the first 6
years, I used a standard lecture format, and on the basis of student
evaluations, the course was a success; I routinely received excellent scores
for both the course and for me as an instructor. The course was
"working," so what made me think I needed to change anything? Two
recurring experiences made me wonder about the effectiveness of my approach.
First, colleagues who taught upper division courses would occasionally stop me
in the hall and make comments such as: "Didn't you cover transcription
and translation in your course? I have students from your class and they don't
even seem to know the difference." Certainly we had covered those
topics. And those comments were not unique to my course. Why was it that even
the top students were not retaining a clear understanding of this material?
The second revelation came from office hours. A student would come to see me
expressing a total lack of understanding of a topic. I would explain the
material to them and they would nod along. At the end of my explanation they
would thank me and indicate that everything was now clear; however, if I asked
them a simple question to verify their understanding, they were unable to
answer, even though moments ago they had professed an understanding of what I
had explained. What was going on? It occurred to me that what was happening in
office hours was a microcosm of what was happening in my lecture course. I
knew the material, and I could explain it in a clear and organized manner so
that the students understood what I was talking about, but that did not mean
my students were learning it. So what was the problem?
The problem had two origins: our students and us. This combination, which
essentially amounts to an unstated collusion between instructor and learner,
creates a pernicious and self-reinforcing cycle. As faculty members, we need
to realize the difference between teaching and learning. Just because I was a
good teacher did not mean that my students were learning. The research in
learning and teaching makes it clear that lecturing promotes passive learning,
and passive learning is not the most effective way to learn
(Figure 1). In fact,
"passive learning is an oxymoron"
(Leamson, 2000). There is
increasing, and I would say undeniable, evidence that students learn better
when they take an active role in the learning process (e.g.,
Cooper and Robinson, 2000;
Davis, 1993; Lord,
1994,
2001;
McKeachie, 1999;
National Research Council,
2000; and references therein). Lecturing has its place
(Bonwell, 1996); for example,
it can be entertaining when carried out by a skilled practitioner. But
lecturing is not a good approach when it is used as the sole or primary means
of getting students to learn. The pedagogical literature has many examples of
this point, so there is no need, and insufficient space, to reiterate it
throughout this article lecturing by itself is relatively ineffective
as a learning tool.

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Figure 1. Lecturing promotes passive learning. The students enter the classroom as
blank slates and attempt to write down everything the teacher says without
thinking. Doonesbury ©1985 G. B. Trudeau. Reprinted with permission of
Universal Press Syndicate. All rights reserved.
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We as faculty members are at fault because we are using an outdated
methodology. Before the development of the printing press, the only way to
transmit information was by word of mouth. With printed materials, and now
electronic resources, other means of information delivery might be more
effective. But there is plenty of blame to go around, because our accomplices
in this educational deceit are the students. As one of my students once wrote,
"Education is the only business where the consumer is satisfied with
less product." In general, students do not prepare for class and they do
not keep up. They have found it unnecessary for success in the course and they
are pragmatists with many demands on their time. But these study habits have
huge negative consequences for the course. Because my students did not read
before class, I had no choice but to lecture to them; otherwise, they would
not know what I was talking about. By not reading the book or studying their
notes after class, they made it impossible for me to build on concepts
presented in previous lectures; when I said, "As you remember from last
time...," they had no idea what we covered last time, and I was
perfectly aware of that. In fact, there is often a tacit understanding between
the students and the instructor: Don't expect too much of me and I won't
expect too much of you.
I wanted to break out of this cycle that forced me to lecture, an
ineffective method of teaching. But how should I teach and what approach
should I use? My first insight came from a presentation in which I was
introduced to the concept of constructivism. Constructivism states
knowledge cannot be transferred from one person to another; knowledge must be
created by each person in order for him or her to learn it. In addition,
pedagogical research suggests that one of the best ways for students to learn
is by teaching other students (McKeachie
et al., 1986). Finally, as opposed to lecturing, active
learning is an effective way to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. I
wanted to develop an approach that utilized these three concepts: 1) students
must construct their own knowledge; 2) learning often works best as a
collaborative effort; 3) active engagement in the learning process is
critical. "Students learn best when they take an active role: when they
discuss what they are reading, practice what they are learning, and apply
concepts and ideas" (Davis,
1993).
However, I needed a method that recognized certain constraints. First, at a
research university, the time I can devote to teaching is limited: If I devote
excessive time to improving my teaching at the expense of my research, my
career will pay the price. I wanted a method that was simple and that would
fit within the time demands of an active researcher. It must be inexpensive
because funds for improving teaching are limited. Finally, it must not depend
on technological fixes, because the ability to implement technological changes
might be limited. I wanted to develop a simple, low-cost, low-tech
approach.
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DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACTIVE LEARNING APPROACH
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Given these conceptual goals and practical constraints, what method did I
develop? Students could learn the basic material as well on their own as they
could if I read it to them, which is essentially what I would be doing if I
lectured. How could I get students to read the material prior to class? If I
tried to reason with them and explained that lecturing was not an effective
way to promote learning, they would read and keep up for about the
first week, until they got math homework and a chemistry quiz, etc., and then
they would stop studying for my class until the midterm.
My solution was to give my students good notes. These notes are concise but
complete; they are what I would say if I were lecturing to them. But the
amount of reading is quite reduced compared with a standard textbook, perhaps
an average of three pages per class hour; a standard text is available as an
option for students who are willing to devote additional time to course
preparation. Accordingly, I could demand that the students do this minimal
amount of reading from my notes prior to class. I also included guideline
questions to emphasize key points. For example, the reading for cellular
energetics will include the following types of guideline questions:
"What is the purpose of fermentation (under what conditions does it
happen)?" and "With regard to energy production, what is the main
product of the TCA cycle?" To ensure that the students did the reading,
I administered a reading quiz. This quiz was factual in nature and was meant
to test whether they had read the notes. For example, a typical reading quiz
would have the following types of questions: "What is the purpose of
glycolysis?" and "What is the role of oxygen in the electron
transport chain?" The reading quizzes were administered at the start of
every class. This quiz constitutes approximately half of the course grade, so
the students need to take it seriously
(Figure 2).

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Figure 2. In general, students need an incentive to read the assigned material ahead
of time. Cartoon copyrighted by Mark Parisi, reprinted with permission.
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If I made no other change aside from instituting the reading quiz, I would
have made major progress. The reading quiz forces the students to keep up, an
unusual experience for most of them. Students have told me during the course
how good it felt to be following along with the class. These students ask
whether this approach keeping up would work for their other
classes! When the students read ahead, they come to class with a certain sense
of ownership of the material. They are no longer passive blank slates waiting
to accept my words of wisdom. Most importantly, because the students have done
the reading, I do not need to lecture. Typically, I will lecture for a few
minutes, but the majority of class time is spent on problem solving.
We often teach as though the particular facts we are covering are critical
when in reality there are few specifics that most students retain from their
undergraduate education (Figure
3). Fortunately, retaining factoids is not as important as the
learning concepts represented by factual examples or, more generally, learning
how to think and solve problems. I want my introductory students to be
scientifically literate, but I also want them to be able to think about
problems that they have never encountered. Lecturing and note taking does
little to develop such higher order thinking skills
(Sorcinelli, 1991;
Svinicki, 1999). In contrast,
I break my class up into groups and put a problem up on the overhead
projector. For the discussion of energetics, a problem might include the
following: "Prokaryotes do not have a mitochondria like eukaryotes and
therefore cannot use cellular respiration as a method of attaining energy. Is
this true or false? Explain." or "The TCA cycle does not use
oxygen directly. Can the TCA cycle proceed in the absence of oxygen?"
and "When an uncoupling agent such as CCCP is added to a flask of
respiring tissue culture cells, oxygen consumption continues but little ATP is
made. Why?"

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Figure 3. How much specific information do you actually remember from courses you
took in college? For most people, the answer is very little. Usually the facts
are not as important as learning how to use them; that is, developing the
ability to ask questions, to find relevant information, and to use that
information to solve a problem in other words, developing critical
thinking skills. Reprinted with permission. ©2004 Sidney Harris.
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I ask the class to discuss the problem within their groups and later ask
for a group's answer. We hear each group's answer and discuss both the correct
and incorrect answers I want my students to see the thinking process
that goes into solving the problem, not just to see which answer is right. I
de-emphasize memorization. Certainly the students need to memorize some facts,
but that is where the typical course ends. I emphasize using facts to solve
problems. Unless we show our students how to gather, process, and apply
information, they will not have learned very much that is useful beyond the
course exams. To ensure participation in the problem solving, I administer a
second quiz that is concept oriented and that constitutes the other half of
the course grade. The concept quiz includes questions such as: "Describe
what happens to your muscle cells if you exercise strenuously and run out of
oxygen." and "What is the effect of an uncoupler on ATP production
through oxidative phosphorylation?" I administer this quiz at the start
of the following class session so the students have some time to seek help if
they are having difficulty. A typical day then consists of a concept quiz for
the previous day of class, a reading quiz on that day's material, a short
lecture and predominantly a problem-solving session.
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EVALUATION OF THE ACTIVE LEARNING APPROACH
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Does this method work? I have attempted to determine whether I have
actually improved the course. First, I carried out an "objective"
evaluation. To do this, I compared student performance on primarily
fact-based, multiple-choice questions to evaluate the effectiveness of the
active-learning format. Students who learned through the problem-solving
format were asked to answer identical questions to those administered to
students who were taught through a lecture format. Although this evaluation
was undeniably biased in various ways, the results suggested that students
learned information more effectively through the problem-solving format
(Klionsky, 1998,
2001).
As a second method of evaluation, I compared these methods subjectively. In
my experience, most faculty members devote little thought to the development
of their own pedagogical approach
(Klionsky, 2003). Although most
people reading this article could easily think of various resources if they
were trying to devise a protocol for an experiment in the lab, probably few
could name even a single reference (aside from this journal) to guide them in
pedagogical development. But such resources certainly exist. For example in
1986, a study was initiated that evaluated 50 years of research on teaching
and learning (Chickering and Gamson,
1987). This study led to the proposal of "seven principles
for good practice in undergraduate education." The seven principles are
only a guideline for instructors, but they have set a foundation for
curricular revision across the nation. Below, I briefly compare the lecture
and active learning formats with regard to the seven principles.
Good practice in undergraduate education:
- Encourages contact between students and faculty. With the problem-solving
approach, the instructor's role is primarily to facilitate group interactions
while students discuss problems. The students have an opportunity to ask
questions more freely and see the instructor in a different light. As a
result, they become more willing to interact with the instructor. With this
approach, the instructor sets the tone for an interactive environment rather
than a oneway transfer of information from teacher to student as typically
occurs during a lecture. Also, it is interesting to note that there is a high
correlation between student-teacher interaction and teacher effectiveness, but
a very low frequency of this behavior in natural sciences
(Murray and Renaud, 1995).
- Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students. Having students help
each other learn is the primary featureof the group problem-solving format. In
contrast, the lecture format typically focuses on individual competition:
memorizing facts and getting high scores on the exams. For collaborative
learning to be most effective, it is important to avoid grading on a curve;
this eliminates a major aspect of competition
(Kohn, 1992;
Malacinski and Zell, 1995) so
there is no disincentive to helping classmates learn.
- Encourages active learning. The lecture/note-taking format is the epitome
of passive learning. The approach that I describe encourages two types of
active learning that might appeal to different types of students. First,
students are responsible for reading the assigned material prior to each class
session. They are encouraged to review their notes on a routine basis to
prepare for the concept quiz following each topic. Reading and reviewing notes
is a type of active learning that can be performed individually. Second,
students actively solve problems during class time and in this case, active
learning is cooperative.
- Gives prompt feedback. Midterms are typically returned at least 1 week
after they are administered, by which point the class is discussing a
different topic. Final exams are returned after the end of the course, if at
all. Generally, neither exam serves as a teaching tool, but rather as a means
of summative evaluation. Research suggests that students remember information
from a classroom presentation better when it is followed by a test
(Menges and Mathis, 1988).
Short and frequent quizzes can be graded quickly and returned to the students
by the next class session. Quizzes quickly alert both the student and
instructor to potential problems in comprehension. In contrast to typical
midterms and final exams, quizzes provide a formative means of evaluation, and
various studies suggest that this type of feedback is central to learning
(Sorcinelli, 1991;
Theall, 1999).
Furthermore, I will look at the quizzes as soon as they are collected. I
can then make real-time course adjustments. Imagine a class in which you teach
based on what the students have actually learned, compared with the standard
lecture format in which your goal is to cover the information you have already
chosen regardless of whether the students have learned any of it. The in-class
problem solving provides an additional avenue for routine evaluation; students
can get immediate feedback from their peers when working collaboratively. I
provide additional feedback by asking for group responses and going over
answers to each problem with the entire class after the discussions by the
individual groups. This is in stark contrast to the lecture format, in which
students usually do not receive routine feedback about their comprehension
during the course of the lecture.
- Emphasizes time on task. Not surprisingly, the more time that students
devote to mastering a subject, the more they learn
(Sorcinelli, 1991). Most
students do not study for introductory biology on a routine basis. They
allocate their time to meet other more pressing demands. They actively study
only when an exam is imminent. The use of daily quizzes forces students to
devote routine time to the course.
- Communicates high expectations. Students generally appreciate high
expectations as long as they are reasonable and if they are supported. The
primary expectation of the lecture format is that students attend class and
take notes. As a result, students expect to focus on memorization, with a
tacit understanding that cramming for the exams is accepted. This "learn
and burn" mentality emphasizes getting a good grade, not on learning or
retaining the material. With the active learning strategy, students bear the
major responsibility for learning. The frequent quizzes provide a set of
routine and obtainable goals. When students perform well on these quizzes,
they are motivated to continue making progress.
- Respects diverse talents and ways of learning. People learn in different
ways and active learning gives them the opportunity to work alone and in
groups. Students are better able to retrieve information from long-term memory
when it fits within the realm of their personal experiences
(Svinicki, 1999); that is, the
more relevant the material is to their own lives, the greater the likelihood
that they will become engaged in the learning process and be able to remember
it (Leamson, 2000). In
addition, research suggests that the group approach benefits women and
minorities (Anderson and Adams,
1992; Marchesani and Adams,
1992).
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DIFFICULTIES (REAL OR IMAGINED) IN IMPLEMENTING ACTIVE LEARNING
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The biggest variable in the learning process is what the students
(learners) bring with them, not what the instructor provides. For this reason,
it is important to use teaching strategies that motivate students and show
them ways to actively learn long after they have left a particular course. In
considering the above information, one question becomes obvious: If it is so
clear that active learning is a better approach, why isn't everyone using
it?
- Faculty members do not know that there are alternatives. We teach the way
we were taught, which was usually through a lecture and note-taking format.
Also, few faculty members (particularly at research-oriented universities)
read any pedagogical literature. Finally, many people are hesitant to give up
control of their class; there is a comforting feeling being the
"expert" who has all the answers
(Figure 4). Along these lines,
there is a concern that the students will not participate in the active
learning approach. I found that the students picked up my own conviction in
the value of this approach.
- As (research) faculty members, we are too busy. Many people think they do
not have the time to make major changes in the way they teach; that is why I
wanted to develop an approach that was not time intensive. It is also worth
noting that the course material does not have to change completely or even
extensively when changing to an active learning format. For example, I cover
the same topics but my learning goals shifted from memorization of facts to
developing scientific literacy and problem-solving skills.
- Concern over depth of coverage versus breadth. Many instructors think that
if time is spent solving problems in class, they cannot cover as much
material. In fact, I cover as much with the active learning approach as I used
to when I lectured; I just make the students take responsibility for learning
part of the information on their own. In addition, I am not convinced that it
is important to cover "everything" if the students are not
learning anything (Figure
5).
- We need to understand the difference between teaching and learning
(National Research Council,
2000). Both students and teachers share responsibility for this
confusion. Professors try to spoon-feed students, and the students keep asking
for more; they don't want to take responsibility for learning. Also, the
students want their tuition's worth, which they see as a lecture by an expert.
We are evaluated on the basis of our performance as judged by students who
don't necessarily have a long-term viewpoint. We should be evaluated on the
basis of whether our alumni learned
(National Research Council,
2003).
- Large classes pose logistical problems. Some people think lecturing is the
only possible way to handle a large class; however, I have used this active
learning approach with a class of 240. Furthermore, when I taught in 50-min
lectures, I had to cover a set amount of material and did not have a lot of
time for interacting with the class. I always felt rushed as I tried to fit
everything in during each class session. Now the students have already done
the reading and covered all of the "essential" information.
Whether I lecture for 5 or 10 min, and whether I cover 10 or 20 problems is
not critical, so it is a much more relaxing experience.
- There is a fixation on technology. Research suggests that technology for
the purpose of education is often misused
(Theall, 1999). Technology
should not drive pedagogy and is only effective when there is a justifiable
need for it. Many people equate technology with innovative teaching. For
example, there is a common view that a multimedia approach such as the use of
PowerPoint solves some perceived problems with the lecture format, although in
my experience, few people use this software effectively for teaching
(Lanius, 2004;
McDonald, 2004;
Voss, 2004). Furthermore, some
instructors make their slides available ahead of time on the Web, allowing
students to bring printouts to class to assist in taking notes. Although this
sounds reasonable, I have found this approach produced unexpected problems.
Several years ago, when I still used lectures as my primary means of teaching,
I handed out my notes at the start of class then proceeded to lecture.
Surprisingly, many students in the class complained and asked that I not hand
out the notes beforehand. The problem was that some students would sit in
class, "follow along" to the extent that they occasionally looked
at the board to see where I was in my lecture, and talked with their friends;
they were not paying attention to me because they "already had the
notes" (McDonald, 2004),
and they were interfering with the students who were interested in hearing the
lecture. At any rate, the attitude that a change in presentation style will
improve a course is somewhat laughable in light of the next point.
- Most courses do not have explicit goals, so attempts to assess whether the
course is meeting those goals are necessarily absent. Imagine conducting an
experiment without evaluating the results. As research scientists, who would
ever do that? Yet that is precisely the way weconduct our teaching
(Klionsky, 2003). Do we
objectively evaluate whether our students are learning? If we implement
changes, do we have any way of determining whether they actually improved the
ability of students to learn? The lack of goals and assessment
(National Research Council,
2003) have led to the common acceptance of the lecture format
because after all, "the current methods have "worked' for
decades."
- Support and recognition for innovative teaching are lacking from
colleagues, department chairs, or deans
(National Research Council,
2003). Part of the academic culture at research universities is
that serious scientists don't spend any more time than necessary on
teaching.

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Figure 4. Active learning requires the instructor to be flexible because it involves
continuous two-way communication between the instructor and the students.
Students are encouraged to ask questions and are more likely to do so because
they come to class prepared to discuss the material. Some faculty members
might initially find this approach intimidating compared with the standard
lecture format in which they control every aspect of the course. Reprinted
with permission. Copyright
CartoonResource.com.
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Figure 5. Many faculty members are convinced that it is critical to cover everything
in the syllabus, whether or not their students are actually learning the
material. Cartoon copyrighted by Randy Glasbergen, reprinted with
permission.
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Finally, I have to conclude with a simple question: do I advocate the
elimination of all lecturing? The answer is, certainly not. I continue to
lecture in my own course, although it is a minor part of the course. There is
no single best way to facilitate learning, and lectures remain an effective
way to deliver some types of information. But if you rely primarily on
lecturing, I would have to ask another question: Do you know this is the most
effective way to get your own students to learn? If you have not experimented
with active learning, you cannot answer this question. As a scientist, why
would you make an assumption that lecturing is meeting your learning goals
without conducting the obvious experiment? We can't expect students to learn
how to think scientifically when we don't apply the scientific method to our
pedagogy (Klionsky, 2003).
There is a trend away from teaching to learning, from a focus on facts and
memorization to concepts and problem solving, from the use of passive to
active learning formats, and from atmospheres that favor individual
competition to ones that promote collaborative learning. These trends reflect
ongoing changes in the way we do science, which is becoming more collaborative
and interdisciplinary, in which we often work in teams and the focus is on
conceptual problems and an effort to solve complex questions. At least with
regard to introductory biology, the method I have described is much more
effective than a lecture-style course at meeting these goals.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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I thank Lisa Klionsky and Mary Lee Ledbetter and A. Malcolm Campbell for
helpful comments on the manuscript. D.J.K. is supported by a grant from the
National Science Foundation as part of the Director's Award for Distinguished
Teaching Scholars.
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