Kickstarting Science and Math Learning
Posted on: October 4, 2010 - 4:34pm
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Kickstarting Science and Math Learning
Kickstarting Science and Math Learning
Huffington Post -- One interesting finding is that it is not just a proficiency gap -- it is also an engagement gap. We are literally boring our kids out of science and math. A lot of this is due to how we teach these subjects. Instead of tapping into the innate curiosity of every kid and letting them discover the world on their own, we emphasize rote learning and procedures. No wonder the kids are turned off.
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And???
In other news, the people who live in canukistan think that guns are bad. They also think that they have something good happening because they are different from us.
You think that you are that good? Invade us and force your way of life on us.
Too damn bad you are out manned ten to one. Too damned bad you you are outgunned two hundred million to, um, well, I hear that you have a few submarines that have leaks.
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that leak but in Oz we have subs whose weapons management systems are based on Command and Conquer Series I. The problems are exacerbated with the addition of paddle wheels that generate an acoustic signature akin to William Warfield's 'Old Man River'.
In further bad news, so as to stay in good with our number one ally, the Royal Australian Navy carefully purchased 2 helicopter carrier ships from a couple of gents in San Diego with Mexican sounding names. Today, HMAS Rust Bottom and HMAS Galvanic Corrosion have had to be welded to the dock at Garden Island so they don't disappear beneath the wavelets.
Best of all we spent about 50 billion on that new shared fighter jet that doesn't work. You know - the one with dual-barmix engines. It's lucky our sworn enemy, New Zealand, has to make do with throwing custard squares from P Class yachts or the world order would come undone.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
Rote is ineffectual.
Another point is that cooler temps tend to prevail in international test scores. Compare places above Topeka, Kansas to those below.
We need cooler teachers teaching in cooler rooms to cool students.
Interesting. I'm actually working on developing a curriculum for young kids in math, science, computers, logic, and critical thinking. I've felt for a long time that there's a fundamental flaw in the education system when most kids go into school loving to learn (e.g. math) and come out hating the whole idea of learning. Thankfully, I never bought into the school system, and only saw it as an obstacle to circumvent until I could take control of my own life as an adult.
So, when I work with the kids, I use my past experiences with boredom at school and constantly try to find more interesting, more 'ahhh!' inspiring methods of using the kids' own inborn curiosity and wonder to be able to continue learning on their own.
So far, I'm getting lots of positive feedback.
On the other hand, the proposals that are made in that article are ludicrously over-complicated. They're talking about spending billions of dollars on researching how computers can be made to help kids learn. WTF?! It's easy! Just stop boring the shit out of the kids. The kids will learn on their own if you can tap into that curiosity and wonder that they naturally possess. You don't need a massive computer system to *not* bore kids to death.
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I always thought half the problem is the whole age = grade system. If a teacher has a class of 30 odd students and is trying to teach them basic math a certain number of kids are going to get it the first time. Others will take a lot longer. It has always seemed ridiculous to me that the student who picks up addition the first day has to sit in class twiddling their thumbs while waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. I remember in elementary school I finished all the problems in my math book for the semester within the first month. The rest of the time I spent causing trouble and no doubt hindering my classmates ability to learn. A bored kid with nothing but time is a dangerous combination, although because of that boredom I started my first business and made quite a bit of money selling candy at a 300% markup until the authorities caught me, which resulted in the markup being increased to 600%.
I always thought schools would benefit from having flexibility to move students to a more advanced class in one subject they are good at while keeping them in a more basic class for things they struggle with rather than the current "well you are in 3rd grade so you must do 3rd grade math" and if you are struggling we will make a big show of pulling you to the side so you will get beat up on the playground or if you are fast you will have to wait for everyone else. I don't see why someone in the 3rd grade couldn't be in a 5th grade math course but a 2nd grade reading course or vice versa. Everyone learns differently, it is ridiculous for us to expect everyone to learn everything at the same speed.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
Unfortunately, public schools in America tend to gear themselves toward the "average student". On this you and I agree. It hasn't gotten any better since they started the "teaching to the standardized test" policies.
I like your solution. The solution that seems popular is scrapping the public schools and making sure only the "right people" can afford private ones. Vouchers won't go to poorer families who want to see that their kids get a good education. They'll go to the people who can afford to send their kids to private school but just want to do it on the cheap.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
Well if me and jc agree it is obviously an indisputable fact.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
Granted, you and I go round and round on some things - I think it's fun and informative.
I hope you don't take it personally. The most fundamental right we have is the right to be wrong.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
I take nothing personally.
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X