when you've reached a certain level of mastery then yes. But until then how do you handle the training in the basics.
On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 10:57 AM, GMoney <[email protected]> wrote: > > bummer...in my calc classes in college we used the rate of change to > determine time of death for a corpse. I also remember using the prime > vector.....crap, what was the name of that thing.....gradient! Using the > gradient to locate the center of gravity in a 747. > > Pretty cool, and helped keep us interested. Those real world examples had > to be dumbed down a bit of course (didn't have to consider other factors > for the corpse, for example), but it was still cool. > > On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 9:44 AM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> I think hit the nail with your head. >> >> Its not so much that kids are taught stuff they cannot use in the >> 'real world', but rather they are not shown real world examples of >> where they would need to sue what they are learning. >> >> On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 10:32 AM, Justin Scott <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> >> You can't go back 10 or 20 or 30 years later and expect >> >> to do well on any of these tests. >> > >> > Indeed, and I think that was the point. Out of all his experience as >> > an adult outside of school, he never had to use any of those skills so >> > they got rusty or were lost to time. If he never had to use those >> > skills, even with all of the responsibilities he has, what's the point >> > of teaching them in the first place? >> > >> > As a "veteran" programmer, one of the things I tell newer developers >> > is to review the tag/function/method reference from time to time. Not >> > to memorize the whole thing, or to know every argument to every >> > function, but just to be aware of what is available. If you have a >> > specific problem to solve, you can go back to the reference for the >> > details later, just be aware that it's there. >> > >> > One of the favorite questions in math classes (at least for me) was >> > "what are we going to use this for later in life?" The teachers would >> > see this as a smart-ass comment and give a smart-ass response like, >> > "you need it to pass the test at the end of the semester." I don't >> > think I ever once got an actual example of a practical application of >> > much of what we were being taught. They focused so much on theory and >> > specifics that they skipped over practical application entirely >> > (more-so with math, but in other areas as well). >> > >> > My belief is that if schools toned down the theory and specifics and >> > focused more on real life examples of problems and solutions then we'd >> > be better off. Let the kids know what tools are available to them and >> > show them how to apply those tools to real problems they will face in >> > life. Rather than test on solving quadratic equations, test on which >> > equations or problem-solving techniques should be used in which >> > situations. If they ever have a need to use any of those tools later >> > on, references are readily available. >> > >> > >> > -Justin >> > >> > >> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:344289 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
