January Session
For some reason, January is when all the budding epistemologists crawl out of their winter depression to hunt the elusive responses to questions on the theory of knowledge. It is interesting to see how one can be of help and yet not so helpful.
Just the other day, I had a note from a young person saying, "Errm, could you make your responses easier to understand so I can put them in my essay?"
I wasn't quite sure how to answer that one. I admit my ramblings are not always easy to understand — hey, in retrospect I myself can't figure out a few of them. But mostly, they aren't so difficult, and they do make some sort of sense.
Over the years, the time-sensitivity of human knowledge needs has increased to the point where impatience has become a counter-virtue. Everything is needed quickly with minimum effort. Every fix must be shot up into the brain, bypassing the sensible metabolism of useful filters.
It distresses me. It leads to problems with universal attention span and ability to retain stuff. Recently, I discovered that Primary 4 students (children mostly turning 10 that year) learn all the facts about air that O-level students (young people mostly turning 16 that year) need to know. Yet I've noticed that for some reason, most of the 16 year olds have forgotten all of it.
Then again, when I was in school, carbon dioxide levels were at 0.03%, and now they're at 0.042%; they've gone up 40% (yes, yes, confusing, I know) since then. Some things need to be updated and the latest figures used, certainly. But topics like discussing how doubt is the key to knowledge will never go out of fashion.
Learn to live with that, young people. Learn.
Just the other day, I had a note from a young person saying, "Errm, could you make your responses easier to understand so I can put them in my essay?"
I wasn't quite sure how to answer that one. I admit my ramblings are not always easy to understand — hey, in retrospect I myself can't figure out a few of them. But mostly, they aren't so difficult, and they do make some sort of sense.
Over the years, the time-sensitivity of human knowledge needs has increased to the point where impatience has become a counter-virtue. Everything is needed quickly with minimum effort. Every fix must be shot up into the brain, bypassing the sensible metabolism of useful filters.
It distresses me. It leads to problems with universal attention span and ability to retain stuff. Recently, I discovered that Primary 4 students (children mostly turning 10 that year) learn all the facts about air that O-level students (young people mostly turning 16 that year) need to know. Yet I've noticed that for some reason, most of the 16 year olds have forgotten all of it.
Then again, when I was in school, carbon dioxide levels were at 0.03%, and now they're at 0.042%; they've gone up 40% (yes, yes, confusing, I know) since then. Some things need to be updated and the latest figures used, certainly. But topics like discussing how doubt is the key to knowledge will never go out of fashion.
Learn to live with that, young people. Learn.
Labels: Information, Learning, Processing
etched with acid at 9:13:00 am
1 Comments:
their (our?) definition of learning seems to be different. pre-defined by their relative scholastic institutions or by the general system of education we are encased in. and empirical deduction, too, for if not where would they learn how to value certain figures above their methods of derivation?
there lacks a convenient avenue to address such issues - TOK, I suppose, is an exception. it is discouraging when students appraise it as a subject to score in and not to learn from.
yet i suppose while spoon feeding isn't good, it was precisely what we ourselves wanted at some point in time. at least i know i did. and the education we receive(d) probably mirrors this desire.
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