teaching-children-0630.html from mit.edu Suppose someone showed you a novel gadget and told you, “Here’s how it works,” while demonstrating a single function, such as pushing a button. What would you do when they handed it to you? You’d probably push the button. But what if the gadget had other functions? Would it occur to you to search for them, if your teacher hadn’t alluded to their existence? Maybe, maybe not. Gabriella, 5, plays with the researchers' toy in the PlayLab at Boston's Children's Museum.Photos: Patrick Gillooly According to Laura Schulz, the Class of 1943 Career Development Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at MIT, this is rational behavior, as teaching is meant to impart skills quickly and efficiently. Bop it, twist it, pull it, flick it! They took the toy to Boston’s Museum of Science, where they recruited 85 preschool-age children to interact with the toy under one of four conditions: pedagogical, interrupted, naïve and baseline. In the pedagogical condition, the experimenter said, “Look at my toy!
Albert Einstein: Becoming a Freethinker Taken from: Albert Einstein's Autobiographical Notes Open Court Publishing Company, LaSalle and Chicago, Illinois, 1979. pp 3-5. When I was a fairly precocious young man I became thoroughly impressed with the futility of the hopes and strivings that chase most men restlessly through life. As the first way out there was religion, which is implanted into every child by way of the traditional education-machine. It is quite clear to me that the religious paradise of youth, which was thus lost, was a first attempt to free myself from the chains of the "merely personal," from an existence dominated by wishes, hopes, and primitive feelings.
Experiences of ADHD-Labeled Kids Who Switch from Conventional Schooling to... Several weeks ago (see post of July 20, 2010 ) I posted a call for stories about children who have been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and have been homeschooled, unschooled, or "free schooled." I received 28 such stories and subjected them to a qualitative analysis. My analysis of these stories suggests that (1) most ADHD-diagnosed kids do fine without drugs if they are not in a conventional school; (2) the ADHD characteristics don't vanish when the kids leave conventional school, but the characteristics are no longer as big a problem as they were before; and (3) ADHD-diagnosed kids seem to do especially well when they are allowed to take charge of their own education. And now, here are the three conclusions, along with some of the quotations that led to each conclusion. Here is a sample of comments made concerning children who had been removed from conventional school and taken off of stimulants.
The problem of evil, as described circa 300 B.C. In about 300 B.C., Epicurus eloquently summed up the problem of the existence of evil. It has come to be known as the Riddle of Epicurus or the Epicurean paradox. It was translated by David Hume in the Dialogues concerning Natural Religion: If God is willing to prevent evil, but is not able to Then He is not omnipotent.If He is able, but not willing Then He is malevolent.If He is both able and willing Then whence cometh evil? Tags: Epicurus, problem of evil Category: Good and Evil, Quotes About the Author (Author Profile) Erich Vieth is an attorney focusing on consumer law litigation and appellate practice. Top 50 Bloggers to Help You Study, Focus and Learn Better Part of succeeding in school is knowing how to study properly. Indeed, knowing how to study and focus on your tasks is important. Understanding how to learn something, and knowing how to retain what you have learned in your memory are vital skills. You can go to school all you want, but if you don’t know how to learn, it will be more difficult. Here are 50 bloggers who can help you study and learn better: Study Tips and Skills First of all, it is helpful to have an idea of how to study most effectively and efficiently. Study Skills Blog: Offers resources for studying, and helpful tips on improving your study.Study Hacks: Learn study skills from Cal Newport, a postdoc at MIT.Study Prof: Offers tips on how to study smarter from test prep coordinator Cody Blair. Learning Sometimes, it helps to learn about…learning. Special Needs Learning Blog: If you have a learning disability, you can still succeed. Memory and Brain Training Productivity Focus Relaxation
Einstein’s Secret to Amazing Problem Solving (and 10 Specific Ways You Can Use It) Einstein is quoted as having said that if he had one hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution. This quote does illustrate an important point: before jumping right into solving a problem, we should step back and invest time and effort to improve our understanding of it. Here are 10 strategies you can use to see problems from many different perspectives and master what is the most important step in problem solving: clearly defining the problem in the first place! The Problem Is To Know What the Problem Is The definition of the problem will be the focal point of all your problem-solving efforts. What most of us don’t realize — and what supposedly Einstein might have been alluding to — is that the quality of the solutions we come up with will be in direct proportion to the quality of the description of the problem we’re trying to solve. Problem Definition Tools and Strategies 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Intelligent YouTube Channels Below, we have gathered together some of the most intelligent video collections on YouTube. A great place to find culturally enriching video... General Universities Spotlighted Collections YouTube EDUYouTube got a lot more intelligent when it launched YouTube EDU, a section of the site that centralizes all of its educational/academic content. Other University Collections 50 Tips for College Students I did the "extended tour" of college. From about 1991-2002. I did get 4 degrees, so at least I have an excuse. :) I've also been an adjunct professor, so I've also been at the other side of the classroom. 1) The Freshman Fifteen does exist. 2) Pizza - the ubiquitous college snack. 3) If it's either take out a loan or quit school, take out a loan. 4) If you can live harmoniously with someone in a 20×20 ft. space, you can do anything. 5) Flip-flops: Wear them in the dorm shower. 6) Always attend the *real* class, and use the Internet one for review. 7) If you are not a morning person, don't schedule classes for 7am. 8) Get involved on campus. 9) Too much socializing = bad grades. 10) If you are feeling overwhelmed, are having problems sleeping, or have gone through a breakup, visit your college's counseling center. 11) There are a lot of free activities on campus. 12) Many colleges have free tutoring centers on campus. 13) Sit near the front of class. 14) Attend the whole class. 47) Sleep.
Born to Learn The Hacker Manifesto by +++The Mentor+++ Written January 8, 1986 Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"... Damn kids. They're all alike. But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? I am a hacker, enter my world... Mine is a world that begins with school... Damn underachiever. I'm in junior high or high school. Damn kid. I made a discovery today. Damn kid. And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is found. Damn kid. You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. Yes, I am a criminal. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto.
Top 6 Sites that Inspire and Educate If you’re a professional who likes to be intellectually stimulated and you enjoy keeping up with the latest news and breaking trends, the internet provides you with an endless choice of carefully curated sites to visit. Today, we bring you six of them that we believe are leaps and bounds above the rest. These sites will not only educate you on topics ranging from business and technology to art and design, they’ll motivate you to find your own, original ideas and see them through. They’re culturally relevant, they’re idea driven and most of all, they’re deeply inspirational. TED is short for three incredibly important subjects in our modern world; technology, entertainment and design. Started in 1984, TED brings together the most brilliant minds to teach us about issues that matter. Tip: Download TED’s free iPad app to browse through 800 videos by date, popularity or keyword. 2. Brain Pickings started from very humble beginnings. 4. 5.