Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
26 Sep, 2008
Mixing Disciplines
I’m currently reading a book on innovation, called The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson. What I have read thus far has intrigued me and got me thinking like no book has for a long time.
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24 Aug, 2008
The Little that We Know
Last Thursday I attended a communications unit tutorial, and was really surprised (shocked, really) by the discussion that day.
The students and facilitator (aka. the tutor) displayed such depth and scope in thought on that week’s material (on digital and analogue modes of communication; largely philosophical stuff) that I could only observe is a state of half-shock and half-awe, almost refusing to participate because I wanted to listen more to the ideas being exchanged and debated as opposed to throwing in redundant questions and answers I only considered necessary due to their possible aid in providing me “participation marks”.
Having never taken a unit outside the business school thus far in my three semesters here in UWA, I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up for this class. Well, the UWA Faculty of Arts has not disappointed.
I suppose it wasn’t just what was being discussed in class that fascinated me, but also how different the discussion was carried out as opposed to in business classes. Unlike the business school, people seemed to be discussing issues with a real curiosity — there is no other agenda other than just saying what’s on your mind, on the issues, or otherwise. There was lively debate, and painfully honest admissions (”I don’t understand why we need to have this debate,” said one, “I just don’t believe we can change the world by thinking about these things.”)
It was also quite an eye-opener for me to realise how little I knew on these subjects. I had always assumed that I had a deeper understanding than most of my peers on philosophical ideas, and that I was more widely read than most — I assumed wrong.
As much as it was painful knowing how little I knew, it was most liberating to know that I now know how little I knew.
22 Jun, 2008
Speaking up in class
I wish I did that more; speaking up in class.
Unfortunately, the opportunity for that has gone, and my marks have been locked in.
Now, I’m facing an almost insurmountable hurdle in the final examinations to get the grade I so desire.
If I work hard now, will it happen?
But then again, should it happen? Maybe it’d be better if it didn’t.
Because it could be only then, faced with the disappointment of “the one that got away”, that I may start working on this weakness of mine I’ve had for so long, and finally eliminate the nagging doubts of whether I could or could not do it, and just do it anyway.
23 May, 2008
Complementary Love
When it comes to love — though it may be hard to tell the difference — seek not one who compliments you, but one who complements you.
6 May, 2007
Classroom Participation for Introverts
I have always found the concept of “classroom participation” quite irritating, not least because of my introverted nature. Classroom participation has been something I have had to deal with since my Polytechnic days, though it was never really enforced in Singapore. In Australia, marks are given after every session, and you actually get to know how much.
During classes (or tutorials, as we call them here), whenever the tutor (or teacher) asks a question, I will hesitate to reply for I believe in thinking through what I want to say before saying it. By the time a well-structured answer comes to my mind, someone else would have beaten me to it, answering the question, though often not as well as I know I would have.
Over the tutorials, I found that my not being able to think quick enough was costing me plenty of participation marks. I hate losing marks for nothing, especially when I know the answer, and better than most at that. A strategy that I came up with to aid me in countering this was to prepare for the tutorials early on, anticipating questions that may be asked, and memorising key words and phrases that I might blurt out.
The key words and phrases that I memorise are not actually meant to answer the question, but rather to stall for time. I blurt them out first, automatically reciting whatever associated facts I have memorised, and all the while I’m thinking about the actual answer in the background. Believe me, this has worked. I have often managed to beat the more extraverted “say first think later” students to answers, which is a great achievement for someone as opposed to this type of extraverted behaviour as me.
Actually, I had always thought I was one of the few who had this problem, and never actually attributed this to introversion/extraversion before, until I read a book called Type Talk, by Otto Kroeger and Janet M. Thuesen.
Here’s the excerpt that made me realise that this aversion to “classroom participation” might not be local to me:
Classroom teachers unwittingly pressure Introverted students by announcing that ‘One-third of your grade will be based on classroom participation.’ Prior to such a statement, both Extraverts and Introverts are on a level playing field. But the moment that new realisation hits, the Extraverts have an advantage. When the teacher poses a question to the class, the Introvert responds by thinking, ‘I know the answer. I just need to get it in focus.’ The Extravert, meanwhile, says, ‘I know the answer. Let me start talking until it becomes clear,’ and then raises a hand — or, better yet, blurts something out, perhaps: ‘Well, let me see. I think that the answer to your question is…’ And plop, the answer becomes clear, just in the nick of time. A second Extravert inevitably repeats the answer in his own words — and there’s nothing more repugnant to a true Introvert than to say a third time something that’s already been said correctly once or twice; Introverts are not ones to waste words. (Extraverts, on the other hand, have advanced degrees in redundancy.) So, who do you think gets the better grade for ‘classroom participation’?
It’s important to understand that neither approach to answering a question is better than the other. Both are quite natural. The problem begins when we make judgements about these differing preferences by passing out grades, promotions, or other rewards.