Friday 14 September 2012

“Do You Learn Effectively?” - Professor M.S.Rao


"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives." - Clay P. Bedford    


Indian students are smart in memorizing the content and reproducing it effectively during the examinations and making grades.  Is it beneficial in the long run?

Indian education encourages 3Rs – read, write and reproduce. Most of the students work hard to cram the content without knowing its implications and applications.  In addition, teachers encourage students by giving them a lot of notes rather than encourage them to think critically and conceptually.

According to Sylvia Downs and Patricia Perry, there are three ways of learning.  First is learning by memorizing which enables the individuals to recall material in the same form as it was originally learned. Secondly, learning by understanding where understanding is an active mental process involving thoughts which link or group ideas in a new way that makes sense to the individual. Thirdly, learning by doing which involves learning a procedure and then practicing it until the individual becomes skilful.  These three methods of learning can be called MUD which is the acronym for memorizing, understanding, and doing.  When we look at Indian education from the perspective of MUD, it mostly emphasizes on memorizing, neglecting the other two areas – understanding and doing. Hence, Indian teachers and students must equally focus on understanding the key concepts and exploring the things through practice to learn effectively.  They must think critically, analyze logically, and apply effectively to achieve the desired outcomes out of Indian education. When the learners understand the concepts properly they can apply in innumerable areas and reap rewards out of it.  Remember the sage words of James Truslow Adams: "There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live."


“Learning is an active process. We learn by doing. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.” - Dale Carnegie


Reference
Alan Mumford: Effective Learning



Born for the Students



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