Had a rather interesting lecture on the concepts of learning. Stuff like Cognitivism, Constructivism and Behaviorism somehow allowed certain methods of teaching and certain rationale behind how each person learns or is unable to become much clearer.
Before you start scratching your heads on the terms used, let me explain in simple terms.
Cognitivism = Changes how information is represented for a person in his mind. In teaching, it is to encourage people to keep thinking about information and then digest it for their own usage.
Behaviorism = Change in behavior by learning. in teaching, it is done via a method which conditions the student by consistent and immediate feedback about what he/she is doing. Most commonly done through a reward/punishment system.
Constructivism = Construction of knowledge through experiences. In teaching, it is meant to allow a freer style of teaching where the student learns by himself with minimal instruction from the teacher.
And looking at the world at large today, it seems that the most ideal concept (constructivism) isn't in play, and the most prevalent are the top two.
It is easy to ask why and explain the faults, but I realise even as I watched the videos on professors or scholars talking about this problem, they are unable to give a concrete solution for it. The origins? Check (Industrial Era, where students are trained literally to pass tests and work in roles already assigned for them). The problems? Check (Students are stifled in their learning, always listening to what the educator says and learning what he/she says, taking in his/her opinions on the subject as well).
Solutions?
None. Rather, there were suggestions more than solutions. Considering the module of mine that I'm taking is called 'E-Learning', the suggested solution is simple - Proper usage of technology.
Yet, what is proper usage of technology? How can you teach youths nowadays how to use technology properly? What is the concept of being 'proper'?
Not that I'm being cynical, but truth is, there is an increasing number of youths and even young adults making use of technologies to do unsavory....things. Or simply doing tasks that don't bear much fruit in terms of usefulness.
Yet, the idea that there are people out there who advocate Constructivism is a refreshing concept. Perhaps one can say that it was the delicious spring water that flowed down from a mountain top to the thirsty deer in me.
Active learning.
Something for my educator friends to consider, even if they don't exactly have the power to change the entire structure of education right now. =)
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I hate comparisons.
Earlier, I made a resolution to think positively for the first two weeks. If that fails, I'll start doing something a little more to make that happen.
I nearly defaulted on that resolution today.
While I was supposed to wait for a friend (who in the end, did not reply nor turn up, unfortunately), I was greeted by a friend who passed by and....well, greeted me in a cheeky way. After that, a troupe of students came out from the seminar room he exited from, many of them I was familiar with.
Mostly 3rd years. All New Media majors.
Then the cruel fact struck me.
I was not good enough to be in that module they were taking.
To be honest, most of the fault lies with me. I wasn't hardworking enough, but somehow or other even when I worked really hard, nothing seemed to go right. Things happen, and grades dipped.
I'm utterly dejected to say that my grades were terrible and so terribly ashamed to say they were quite a ways below average.
My first reaction at that time? A tightening of the heart, and a voice in my mind saying that one of those students there could have, should have, been me.
The bitter pill of disappointment was really hard to swallow. Some of those people there didn't really know what they wanted after graduation. Some of them were graduating this semester.
But for me....
It is always difficult telling someone your circumstances, even though I managed to pass off as being nonchalant about it (I think).
There IS truth in how I've planned it out already, though. Perhaps I could take heart from that.
However, when it came to realising all my peers were higher scorers than I am, it made me feel a *little* smaller.
....End of story, with me going emo again?
Not quite, this time.
There was something that I had that some (not all, because the dude who greeted me was a swell guy and had this as well) of them did not.
The King.
Had I not been a Subject of His, I'd probably be thinking suicidal thoughts right now.
Had I not been praying fervently for the past few days, I'd be berating and cursing myself right now.
Had I not been hoping and believing in him for certain things, I would be doubting the sudden changes that occurred right now.
So I thought: Perhaps this is all part of His plan.
Even the difficulties in just getting a simple tutorial....
Perhaps it was all meant to build me up.
Even the sudden change that happened sometime back that got me going around in circles.
The King is good.
Finding myself to be a little more passionate about life, about people, about hope, about relationships.
Finding myself to be a little more resilient and more in control, one step closer to being a real man, perhaps.
Maybe one day, I won't ever need to compare ever and be that confident Man I've always dreamed of being, fulfilling the promises I made as well as basking in the blessings promised to me.
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