I am currently reading Larry Gonick's book on Physics. I have previously studied almost everything covered in the book. And yet there are so many concepts that I am really only appreciating now.
In the past I have attributed this to my growing wisdom with age. Thanks to my kids, I realise now that that isn't true.
When I was in school, we weren't studying to learn. Usually, we were studying to remember. Only the most captivating of texts escaped this treatment. The focus was on being able to regurgitate the information we read on demand, not processing that information.
Examinations are the bane of education.
In college I was mostly studying to know. This meant I had wildly varying examination results, depending on the teacher, the subject, and how much interest I had in it. But I had a free pass in college, so it was OK :-). Whatever I learnt in college, stays with me, unlike what I learnt in school.
On the other hand, I have been learning about computers and crafts since childhood. Learning by doing. The underlying concepts I learnt, and the muscle memory of tools I used, are still with me. I expect to be able to explain extrusion, and perform extrusion of graphics in Coreldraw, or the extrusion of metal in Solidworks, until my dying day.
The focus of education should be to give children the ability to acquire knowledge. Not to actually impart them as much knowledge as possible. Students should also be tested only on their abilities to acquire and process information. Not on how much information they carry around in their heads. This will free up time for discussion and critical thinking. Children will form their own opinions, and reformulate these opinions when presented with new information.
They will then grow up to be intellectuals and Basanagouda will have them shot. But I digress.
Thank you Meera and Rajeev for introducing me to Larry. Your library will always be my number one favourite/aspirational thing in the world.
In the past I have attributed this to my growing wisdom with age. Thanks to my kids, I realise now that that isn't true.
When I was in school, we weren't studying to learn. Usually, we were studying to remember. Only the most captivating of texts escaped this treatment. The focus was on being able to regurgitate the information we read on demand, not processing that information.
Examinations are the bane of education.
In college I was mostly studying to know. This meant I had wildly varying examination results, depending on the teacher, the subject, and how much interest I had in it. But I had a free pass in college, so it was OK :-). Whatever I learnt in college, stays with me, unlike what I learnt in school.
On the other hand, I have been learning about computers and crafts since childhood. Learning by doing. The underlying concepts I learnt, and the muscle memory of tools I used, are still with me. I expect to be able to explain extrusion, and perform extrusion of graphics in Coreldraw, or the extrusion of metal in Solidworks, until my dying day.
The focus of education should be to give children the ability to acquire knowledge. Not to actually impart them as much knowledge as possible. Students should also be tested only on their abilities to acquire and process information. Not on how much information they carry around in their heads. This will free up time for discussion and critical thinking. Children will form their own opinions, and reformulate these opinions when presented with new information.
They will then grow up to be intellectuals and Basanagouda will have them shot. But I digress.
Thank you Meera and Rajeev for introducing me to Larry. Your library will always be my number one favourite/aspirational thing in the world.