April 23, 2006
Maybe Regurgitation Isn't the Answer
I have long believed that schools have been failing to prepare students for dealing with the insane amount of information in the world. Everything seems to be "repeat this fact after me;" then I'll test you on it until your brains rot away. The better way would be: "Here's the information, and I'm going to help you understand how to remember the concepts and how to find the details when you need them."
This from Creating Passionate Users: [Moving up the wisdom hierarchy]
If we could teach kids in elementary school just one thing (besides reading), my wish is that it would be systems thinking. But too much of even our adult training/education (including much of what I create) is focused on short-term "just-the-facts-mam" or how-to hacks and tutorials. We obviously need reference info and how-to's, or everything comes to a grinding halt, but without the higher elements of understanding and wisdom, we might never recognize that the thing we're learning to do is NOT the right choice!