To Learn
In souther dialect there's a popular phrase "to learn you something." Your teacher will learn you music, your mother will learn you to cook, your pastor will learn you the way to heaven and so on. But today, after being inspired to think on the subject, I have come to the conclusion that this statement is not only grammatically incorrect, but incorrect in meaning as well. One can never learn another anything. One can teach something to another, but one can never learn it for them. To learn is an elusive and not fully understood act of human nature still widely argued by scholars today. How do we learn? How is it that we absorb the information that bombards us everyday, both in normal life and through instruction? The brain is so miraculous in transforming meaningless, hollow scratches on material into a system of understanding that can be shared by all. We do not, or should not, learn problems but rather concepts and applications of them.
Today it was suggested that when we are able to teach something, we have mastered it; we then own the concept at hand. When you read something you learn 15% of it, when you teach something you learn 95% of it. I agree completely. Case in point, my current math class: math 01x. Upon entering UMd, one is required to take a math placement exam to then be placed in the level of math best suited for them as well as to fulfill a state mandate regarding University level math. Not to my surprise, I did not do very well on the placement exam and opted for the review course to fulfill my mathe requirement. This course meets five days a week, spends the first half of the semester reviewing all previous math on th placement test, the retests the students who are then placed in a certain high math to be taken for the last half of the semester, five days a week, thus fulfilling the math requirement in half the time okus strong review. In high school, and middle school perhaps, my math teachers were horrible, seriously horrible. And I say this meaning nothing to their character as people, but rather against their abilities to express concepts in math and allow the students to own it. A normal math class at Abingdon HIgh School consisted of a poorly qualified teacher, an overhead projector, and a dry erase marker. Fomulas, equations, and numbers spewed from the teachers mouth and onto the paper of the note taking students BUT NEVER THE CONCEPTS BEHIND IT. I suppose that the teachers assumed these concepts would be learned through rigorous study at home, but not everyone works that way. And very seldom was the time the students were able to apply this math themselves or even attepmt at learning the concept. That was for home, not school!. A ridiculous and sad ideaology that still exists in the schools of Washington County, VA today and may never change. I doubt they have one singular well qualified teacher there that can truly attest to appling these concepts of teaching to learn rather than teaching to teach.
Before I continue, I must admit that I am not the best math student, math is my least favorite subject. I actually hate math, mainly because I (usually) don't do well in it and am afraid of failure. However, I accell in my math 01x class, beyond high standards even, and I've been outside of a math class for well over a year now. I don't want to sound pretentious or arrogant about my work in this class, but it just goes to show that I am not truly bad at math, but rather have been set up, due to predetermined variables, to fail in maths were they to continue to be taught in the manner at Abingdon High School. Upon enetering this college level math and being taught to comprehend the basic structure of mathematic principles and the reasoning behind it, I am able to fully comprehend all those things that were taught AT me rather than TO me; I focus on concepts rather than answers. Now I am able to own what I know and easily build upon it. A very simple thing to do, but so blindly ignored by so many practitioners of any subject, not just mathematics. I simply used this subject because it it my most recent and relevant case upon entering UMd to my thesis. Last, while at ETSU, I would have used my success in English to point this out in comparison to my final English classes with Melanie Arrington and Tim Necessary at Abingdon High.
So here are the basic rules, as thought by me, to a successful student understanding of concepts rather than answers:
1) You must be positive. Go into a class with a positive outlook and an understanding of predetermined success.
2) Be truthful. Your "self talk" should always be truthful about your abilities and desires. Sure you may be tired or you may not want to be there. But simply say, I am here and I can do this, I can do other things too.
3) Study in small groups. By allowing this to happen, you encourage the opportunity for students to teach one another, and once they teach something, they own it. Alone time on work is necessary, but group work is sometimes more important. This should definitely be stressed in class and integrated as a major component of how the class is taught.
4) Teach concepts, not answers. By showing students how structures are derived or why something exists give the concepts behind actions and results. This is the best way to get a point across and allow for right answers. By simply teaching answers, the student misses the objective. They should be able to recognize concepts out of context. You cannot apply answers, only concepts.
Sure, some of those things can only be applied to onesself, in fact all of them can and should be applied personally. However, they should be intiated, expressed and sustained by the teachers. That's why teachers exist and this methond can only make their job more effective and meaningful. But in any respect, I have now began to see a way in which I can effectively learn, and one that others can profit from as well. Not everyone learns the same way, but these basic principles and ideas can sure help and never hurt. Only you can "learn yourself" something after being properly taught.
Today it was suggested that when we are able to teach something, we have mastered it; we then own the concept at hand. When you read something you learn 15% of it, when you teach something you learn 95% of it. I agree completely. Case in point, my current math class: math 01x. Upon entering UMd, one is required to take a math placement exam to then be placed in the level of math best suited for them as well as to fulfill a state mandate regarding University level math. Not to my surprise, I did not do very well on the placement exam and opted for the review course to fulfill my mathe requirement. This course meets five days a week, spends the first half of the semester reviewing all previous math on th placement test, the retests the students who are then placed in a certain high math to be taken for the last half of the semester, five days a week, thus fulfilling the math requirement in half the time okus strong review. In high school, and middle school perhaps, my math teachers were horrible, seriously horrible. And I say this meaning nothing to their character as people, but rather against their abilities to express concepts in math and allow the students to own it. A normal math class at Abingdon HIgh School consisted of a poorly qualified teacher, an overhead projector, and a dry erase marker. Fomulas, equations, and numbers spewed from the teachers mouth and onto the paper of the note taking students BUT NEVER THE CONCEPTS BEHIND IT. I suppose that the teachers assumed these concepts would be learned through rigorous study at home, but not everyone works that way. And very seldom was the time the students were able to apply this math themselves or even attepmt at learning the concept. That was for home, not school!. A ridiculous and sad ideaology that still exists in the schools of Washington County, VA today and may never change. I doubt they have one singular well qualified teacher there that can truly attest to appling these concepts of teaching to learn rather than teaching to teach.
Before I continue, I must admit that I am not the best math student, math is my least favorite subject. I actually hate math, mainly because I (usually) don't do well in it and am afraid of failure. However, I accell in my math 01x class, beyond high standards even, and I've been outside of a math class for well over a year now. I don't want to sound pretentious or arrogant about my work in this class, but it just goes to show that I am not truly bad at math, but rather have been set up, due to predetermined variables, to fail in maths were they to continue to be taught in the manner at Abingdon High School. Upon enetering this college level math and being taught to comprehend the basic structure of mathematic principles and the reasoning behind it, I am able to fully comprehend all those things that were taught AT me rather than TO me; I focus on concepts rather than answers. Now I am able to own what I know and easily build upon it. A very simple thing to do, but so blindly ignored by so many practitioners of any subject, not just mathematics. I simply used this subject because it it my most recent and relevant case upon entering UMd to my thesis. Last, while at ETSU, I would have used my success in English to point this out in comparison to my final English classes with Melanie Arrington and Tim Necessary at Abingdon High.
So here are the basic rules, as thought by me, to a successful student understanding of concepts rather than answers:
1) You must be positive. Go into a class with a positive outlook and an understanding of predetermined success.
2) Be truthful. Your "self talk" should always be truthful about your abilities and desires. Sure you may be tired or you may not want to be there. But simply say, I am here and I can do this, I can do other things too.
3) Study in small groups. By allowing this to happen, you encourage the opportunity for students to teach one another, and once they teach something, they own it. Alone time on work is necessary, but group work is sometimes more important. This should definitely be stressed in class and integrated as a major component of how the class is taught.
4) Teach concepts, not answers. By showing students how structures are derived or why something exists give the concepts behind actions and results. This is the best way to get a point across and allow for right answers. By simply teaching answers, the student misses the objective. They should be able to recognize concepts out of context. You cannot apply answers, only concepts.
Sure, some of those things can only be applied to onesself, in fact all of them can and should be applied personally. However, they should be intiated, expressed and sustained by the teachers. That's why teachers exist and this methond can only make their job more effective and meaningful. But in any respect, I have now began to see a way in which I can effectively learn, and one that others can profit from as well. Not everyone learns the same way, but these basic principles and ideas can sure help and never hurt. Only you can "learn yourself" something after being properly taught.
posted by ~chase at 10:15 AM
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