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To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test

nytimes.com

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Re: To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test

#31

Post by csomar »

ionfish wrote: post #2

Here's one example of this kind of phenomenon. If you really want to understand a question, write a paper about it. It's easy enough to read five or ten research papers in an area, and if you do that thoroughly, and write extensive notes as you do so, you'll start to feel that you understand the area and the issues involved. However, if the way you learn is much like mine, when you try to start writing you will reali…

That works well, along with teaching; however, it takes extensively huge time and is very tiring (needs lot of efforts and patience).

Re: To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test

#33

Post by me2i81 »

jarek wrote: post #17
aik wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's how it works in Japan too. Kids study English for 8 years and aren't able to speak a word or make basic linguistic connections. And it's all based on study and test taking.

Sadly, that's most of second language 'learning' in public schools in most places around the world.

Almost everyone I've met from the Netherlands is fluent in English, and has a better grasp of English grammar than many Americans. I wonder why their result is so much better than the Japanese. There could be many reasons for this, including that English and Dutch are much closer than English and Japanese, that the Dutch have more contact with English-speaking people and media, or that the Dutch schools have a better way of teaching language than the Japanese schools. I've also found this to be the case with younger Germans.

Re: To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test

#34

Post by detokaal »

You have to know what you don't know. In other words, you need a sense of the gaps that exist in your knowledge and then fill those gaps. This is a side effect of...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

... and a key part of continuing education in any field. The best way for students of any age to grasp this is to take practice tests. Look at what you missed, and go fill in that gap. A similar method it to look at a completed project or paper and wait for the aha moment, "I didn't know you could do that." Then you go find the answers.

Re: To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test

#35

Post by Jach »

aik wrote: post #13
ghshephard wrote: post #10

ARGH. The title completely ignores the fact that the experiment-subjects that retained the information the best DIDN'T just take a test, they also retrieved it from memory and wrote what they knew. THEN they were tested on it. Horrible, horrible summary. A better title might have been "What they say is true, Read, Write, [Recite] - Then you'll test well." That is: "Read the Source Material - let's say a chapter of 10…

This entire article is so full of that kind of crap - full of baseless insinuations and twisted meanings - it completely infuriates me. With the influx of recent NYT articles on education I'm nearly convinced the NYT is purposely trying to sabotage education (or rather they have a clear agenda, which I wish I knew where came from, that they are pushing through by twisting other people's words). As you say, retrieval…

Here's some lines from the article going over the types of tests...

> A week later all four groups were given a short-answer test that assessed their ability to recall facts and draw logical conclusions based on the facts.

> But when they were evaluated a week later, the students in the testing group did much better than the concept mappers. They even did better when they were evaluated not with a short-answer test but with a test requiring them to draw a concept map from memory.

> The final group took a “retrieval practice” test. Without the passage in front of them, they wrote what they remembered in a free-form essay for 10 minutes. Then they reread the passage and took another retrieval practice test.

Another issue with the overall study is a lack of blindness of the researchers, as well as people making up questions about the material in a disconnected way from the study to test the students on those.

Re: To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test

#36

Post by raleec »

ghshephard wrote: post #10

ARGH. The title completely ignores the fact that the experiment-subjects that retained the information the best DIDN'T just take a test, they also retrieved it from memory and wrote what they knew. THEN they were tested on it. Horrible, horrible summary. A better title might have been "What they say is true, Read, Write, [Recite] - Then you'll test well." That is: "Read the Source Material - let's say a chapter of 10…

Or, as this article in Wired states: "To learn best, write an essay" (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/learning-methods/)
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