`I need to learn'
VINOD K. NAIR
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Learning should be based on doing things and not merely knowing things.
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Mohammed Yousuf
Only in a live environment is learning implemented.
Exam paper leaks seem to have become more of a norm than an exception. There are incidents of students in Bihar going on strike and resorting to violence when they are not allowed to copy during exams. School and college students all over the country attend classes that focus on preparing them to do well in the exams. It seems almost as if the exam is the most important aspect of the education process. In all this learning seems to have been sidelined. Why are we in this state? We seem to have forgotten that the focus of education should be the overall development of the individual.
A Gallup poll conducted in the U.S. among parents of school-going children — on what should be the long-term goals of education — showed that most parents wanted honesty, acceptance of people of different races and ethnic and intellectual development of the student. However, when the same respondents were asked what they expected their students to achieve in the current year the response was very different. They indicated that they wanted their children to learn to take notes effectively, pass in all tests and improve their performance in those subjects they were not doing well earlier.
Examinations and tests are mere tools that are used to assess if the desired learning objective has been met. But now the measurement tool seems to have become the end objective of the learning process.
Learning results in an observable change in the behaviour of the learner. In order to analyse the effectiveness of the education process a study was conducted in a school in Moscow. An education psychologist attended a geometry class in Moscow to observe how a group of students learn about right-angled triangles.
The teacher began by explaining that there were several types of triangles and each type had specific characteristics. She then went on to demonstrate right-angled triangles by giving several illustrations of the concept. Next she provided practice for the students to learn the concept of right-angled triangles and apply it.
What is learning?
After the class, the educational psychologist asked one of the students who had correctly answered the teacher's questions to participate in an experiment. She first asked the student to define a right-angled triangle. He gave the correct definition, saying that a right triangle is a triangle, which has a 90° angle. She then showed him a diagram of four triangles and asked him to indicate which of them were right angled triangles.
The student indicated that 1 and 3 were right-angled triangles. When asked what about 2, as it too has a 90° angle, he said, "for a triangle to be right angled the 90° angle should be at the bottom either on the right or the left side. Despite knowing the correct definition, the student had erroneously generalised, based on the example he had seen.
Learning is a combination of external stimuli and internal changes within the learner's memory. In the above case, the teacher's instructions and examples provide the external stimuli. Hence the complete learning environment including the instructions, the examples and the manner in which they are presented have to be designed with care to ensure the right kind of change in behaviour.
If we look back at our own learning experiences, a lot of the skills we have acquired like walking, talking, swimming and driving, have been through our interaction with the live environment in which the learning is implemented. While interacting with the environment, we discover certain facets and patterns and construct our own rules and generalisations. We are then able to correctly recall and apply these skills when required.
Doing and learning
Traditional instruction seems to be dominated by fact-based knowledge. However real life requires us to do things rather than know things. For example, a biology lesson on the respiratory system informs the learner of the components and functioning of the respiratory system. But unless students know what to do with this knowledge and why they need to know it, they quickly forget what they were taught. Therefore for the lesson on the respiratory system to be effective it should help the student identify symptoms that indicated malfunctioning of the systems and simple steps to be taken to ensure that the respiratory function remains healthy. The factual knowledge on the components and functioning can then be provided as supporting inputs.
Currently the goals of most curricula are not intrinsically motivating. Students learn in order to complete homework assignments and pass exams and tests. There is nothing about this new knowledge that helps them achieve a goal that is both relevant and meaningful to them.
For instance learning about the components of the respiratory system is not intrinsically motivating. Doing well at the exams or even earning a high salary are external motivations. On the other hand, if the student learnt how to care for family members who had respiratory problems, it would be a reason to learn about the respiratory system.
Until and unless learning solutions relate to real life and motivate the learner to acquire and apply the knowledge, the whole process will remain superficial. We will continue to face exam paper leaks and strikes by students demanding the right to copy. The focus of education will continue to be enabling students to pass examinations.
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