Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Question Everything? Really?

The Scientific Method & Creativity



The Scientific Method

How Could the Scientific Method Ever be Dangerous?

There are inherent dangers in the unqualified use of "The Scientific Method."

First, we make it a memorized sequence somewhere during Middle School, thus creating an academic perception, sending it into the intellectual abyss of many other formalized educational topics.

Second, it contains the word scientific, giving us the perception that it is to be used only in the world of learning we call science.

Another potential negative is that we mistakenly assume all things called science actually and accurately align with the process outlined by this method of thinking and doing. If you doubt that syndrome, try aligning the theory of evolution with the Scientific Method... oh, and creation, too.

Conversely, this label often gives the impression that the system of getting stuff done is restricted to the realm of science. Why do we restrict its use to science when all sorts of problems can be addressed by observing, hypothesizing, testing, thinking, etc.?

The Danger of Educational Hypnosis

The real point of this mini-rant isn't about the Scientific Method. I often wonder if we have become so tuned in to textbook learning that we are hypnotized by apathy and controlled by compliance. We forget that life is organic, always changing yet retaining important constants.

We live in an intellectual society in which it's acceptable to conform yet risky to act creatively. We regurgitate answers sufficient to "get the grade," but seldom confront the party line. Political correctness governs much of our person-to-person conversation and we feel safe. We conform because we can't question diversity of opinion.

Life doesn't unfold in a linear fashion. Some degree of chaos always resides within us, no matter what our resume says. Dare we choose to to act creatively? Dare we risk being wrong so sometimes we are amazingly right? Have we stifled creativity for the sake of literacy?



48 comments:

  1. When it comes to learning, I am in agreement with the idea that we should be able to let our minds wander and let us be creative. Sitting for hours and reading a textbook that you are probably not going to retain anything from, becomes a little pointless after awhile. I get that some students do learn better when they read from textbooks but there are others who learn by applying it to what they already know. I feel that we should allow ourself some creative freedom and try new things, especially when it comes to learning. When it comes to the scientific method, I never really thought about it in the sense that we only use it for science. Growing up I just naturally knew it could be applied to anything. I feel that our brains are in a way programmed to categorize things if a certain word is already in it. So we hear "science" but that is not always the case, scientific method can be applied to anything that has nothing to do with science.

    - Kristian Rojas

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  2. I agree completely with Kristian that some students learn different from others and that applying this method purely to science limits the creative freedom we can use it for. I, however, have always associated it with science myself, and it has been grouped together with the "science things to block out of my memory after the course ends" section of my brain. I've had difficult science teachers in high school and the subject itself is my absolute worst, so the word science has come to mean "terrifyingly bad grade" in my dictionary. It wasn't until my senior year physics class that I actually enjoyed learning science: my teacher has us reviewing the basics in ways that I never thought I could learn science with, and it became interesting and fun to learn about scientific concepts. I think that passion invokes creativity and vice versa, so it is important for classes to allow students to try out different methods of learning and discover why the subjects we learn are being taught to us. If we can be encouraged to apply science and other subjects to our individual interests at an early age, school itself would feel less constricting and mechanical.

    - Jenna Wood

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  3. I believe that there is such emphasis on "text book learning" in the earlier years of school that they are forgetting to allow students to think for themselves. I am guilty even now for only learning the material being taught just to get the grade but that is what I was taught in school at a very young and it is such a hard habit to break. I agree with Jenna Wood when she says that it is important for classes to allow students to try out different methods of learning and to actually try and figure out the reason we are being taught all of these different subjects. I hope one day to be an elementary teacher and to not only to teach my students facts that will be on the test but to teach them how to figure things out on their own and to come up with their own ideas and conclusions. When talking about the scientific method, I also always knew that it can be applied to almost everything in life and not just science. I also believe it is extremely important to observe, hypothesize, test, and think about everything in order to better understand the world around us.
    -Elisa Montano

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  4. As Elisa Montano said, I am also guilty of just learning the material to get a grade. I never learned because I wanted to learn, I did it for the grade so that I wouldn’t get in trouble with my parents for getting a bad grade. There are some students that are so concerned about the grade and not about learning that they’ll cheat on almost every assignment and test.
    I remember my elementary school made us take a test to see what learning style best suited us. The options were musical, linguistic, kinetic, verbal, logical, social, solitary, and naturalist. The teachers would then try to incorporate those teaching styles with us. I hope to do this when I become a teacher one day. Teachers and administrators need to understand that everyone learns in different ways and they should try different teaching styles to accommodate the children's learning style. I believe if teachers can do this it can make learning so much more enjoyable for students.
    -Ashley Russell

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    1. I agree that many times students just learn to get the grade. I am guilty of this, but it is what I have been taught to do. Finding ways to get the information to stay and get a good grade on the test is what the goal always is. After the test is over and I have my grade I forget about all the information. Learning should be enjoyable to benefit us later in life, not just because we need to pass a class.

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  5. I agree that textbook learning has become so common, and all students have been guilty of reading a textbook and studying just to make the grade. In the long run our grades don't matter. Our future employers won't be looking up the individual grades we received in each college class. It is so important to remind ourselves not to take life too seriously. When I am thinking and acting creatively, I am able to learn so much more and gain so much peace from whatever I am working on. I love what Jenna Wood said about passion and creativity building off of each other. School needs to incorporate much more creative learning because being creative allows us to learn our minds and tap into a part of a brain that is definitely under-used.

    -Bryley De Ghetto

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    1. Hi Bryley,

      I like that you mentioned our future employers. Something that I think a lot of students need to realize is that your GPA isn't going to be on your degree, and unless you're a bio-chem major trying to go to med school it isn't necessary to just strive for a 4.0 GPA. Going to a university is so different than high school because I feel like it forces you to not just try and get an A on every test but actually take the material that you're learning and turning it into something meaningful that you can use when you begin your career.

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  6. Bryley,
    I completely agree that we often take life to seriously, especially when it comes to receiving grades. It is important for us to remember that grades aren’t going to be looked at by future employers. Our degree is achieved even with an average grade, and learning still comes from that. Employers must recognize that getting a degree is unique to each person and is a huge accomplishment, and that single piece of paper means the world to a college graduate. In the college world we are easily consumed by getting perfect grades when after that class, we typically do not even remember what was covered. I also learn better when I am thinking creatively and am able to create something organic and new. This allows the mind to stretch and think in ways that it would not have with only textbook reading. Thanks for sharing!
    -Taren Koch

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  7. I agree with everyone that has posted earlier saying that we take grades too seriously. When it comes to this i am definitely guilty, in which I find myself finishing homework just to get it done, rather than trying to learn from it, only later to go back and study it for a test, and as soon as that information is no longer needed I forget everything that I have memorized, resulting in me not learning or taking anything from the class. This also has definitely affected my creative thinking, in which, whenever I am given an assignment in which there are very few requirements, and seems open ended, I find it difficult to do the assignment, because I am used to only one solution being acceptable. In my opinion this hinders society, in which people are becoming less creative. In my opinion most education does not emphasize on creativity, even though in my opinion it is very crucial. It is because of creativity that new inventions are made, and new discoveries are made. If creative thinking was emphasized more in education, i think students would be more eager to learn, and at the same time would not be only focusing on getting a Grade, but rather real learning

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    1. I agree with you Joshua, many times I find myself trying to finish my homework just to get the assignment done. I don't really try to learn from it or take my time to really research. I look for what I need and once I get a answer and completed assignment I am done and check it off my list. This is a bad habit because I don't allow my brain to take in all this new information that could someday benefit me. Instead I overwhelm it by cramming all the assignments I need to get done and learn nothing at all. Creativity is very important and I feel like it needs to be expressed more often. It is difficult when you are so used to doing exactly what is expected of you following strict guidelines. When I am given assignments where I am free to choose what I will be doing it is really hard because I don't know what will be right or wrong. Creativity was so strongly emphasized in elementary school and lost along the way. I think it is important for students to be able to express themselves and used their creativity more often. This outside of the box thinking is what leads to new great things,
      -Monique Alfaro

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  8. I think a lot of us are trapped in the same routine of going through the motions in order to achieve what is acceptable to society, as well as to our friends and family. There are some who venture outside of this ‘comfort zone’ and strive to go against other’s demands in order to answer to their own creative, unique calling. Although, many of us do not take this step and tend to want to blend into our surroundings and only do what we are told to do. Take for instance a conversation between a few people. When one person says a statement that everyone else praises and agrees to except for you, instead of speaking out against it many of us tend to quietly agree or stay silent out of the fear of being rejected. This can also be seen taking place within the classroom on the teacher’s and student’s levels. As Elisa Montano said, there is a strong emphasis on textbook learning within our school system. Teachers often force this textbook learning upon their students in order to assure that they cover all the material they are responsible to cover for that given school year, and in turn the students respond by simply regurgitating answers and following through with the motions that the teachers tell them to do in order to please them. These scenarios all have one thing in common, which is the goal of pleasing others. The teacher wants to please the school district, the student wants to please their teacher and their parents, and so on. I believe that to some extent, these expectations and regulations must be broken in order to promote individuality and creativity within the classroom, as well as in society.
    -Marion McGinnis

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  9. I really resonated with the idea that we can get complacent with the textbook learning. Its often more of a short term memory contest; those with the better short term memory get better grades because they can more successfully regurgitate information onto a test. I prefer an educational system with dialogue where we learn concepts and then discuss the concepts as a group and how they apply so that we have stories of application thus making the education worthwhile and long term. I would actually love to see a reform of the way we do education at APU.

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  10. They first day of class when you had said that we will not be using our textbook, my first response was, "oh thank God I save that money!" But then the more I thought about it the more I was concerned with the learning that would happen within this class. I am someone who takes my education seriously and I was concerned that this class was not going to be a good fit for me, but as the hours progressed in class I quickly realized that I was going to have a great amount of learning, just not in a way that I have become so comfortable with.
    I think back and i start questioning when did learning lose the artistic beauty and creativity. When did it become more important to get the grade instead of the true investment. For awhile I have been tricking myself to believing my learning was all based on a test result, but truthfully it should be the legitimate learning. It should be the smiles and laughs that happen in the midst of deep education. It is so much more than what it has been created to be. I truly love this course and the opportunity it is presenting of getting back to the true learning we are all intended to do.

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    1. Sofia, I completely agree with what you're saying. The feeling was good as well as bad when we were told we didn't need a book. Good, because of the extra money I would be saving, but bad because I didn't know how exactly we would be learning.
      But I'm glad that this class has taught me that my knowledge does not come from a book, simply being open minded and thinking outside the box is enough. I relate this to our projects and how we weren't given any boundaries. It allowed us to do something we would not normally do.
      As college students were more concerned about passing and getting the best grade possible and forget that we should be enjoying during this time of our lives.

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  11. I think that maybe the issue is the schools and how teachers are expected to teach. Literacy has gotten so low that the government tried to fix it by creating tests that students must pass or else it will be linked back to the school and teachers not doing their jobs. This took creativity away from the teachers and the classroom. How can we learn to be creative if those teaching us are not allowed to be creative? I feel that teachers can use their own creativity to teach children in individual ways instead of by the book so all they learn is exactly what is required and nothing more? I feel that creativity is central to learning in that we learn through creative processes and capabilities. We organize our thoughts according to how we know works for us, which takes creativity.
    -Samantha Jewell

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  12. The scientific method is not clear-cut, but a guide that can be sculpted depending on the situation, and applied to issues other than science as well. I think this is an example of one of the main problems with our education system; students may not realize the importance of how different subjects actually connect with each other, and therefore the importance of each one. While no one is able to excel at every single area, a student who is gifted in art may be taught to feel inferior to one who is strong in math. This idea should definitely be shattered, because it hinders not only students’ assurance in themselves, but their creativity and freedom to work on what they desire. Budget cuts have often taken away classes that aid in creativity and other important skills, such as physical education, art, and music. It is essential for students to experience a well-rounded education in order to succeed, because they have the chance to not only exercise different areas of their brains, but also understand how they relate to each other and the real world.

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    1. I agree with this 100%. Students seem to always have a problem remembering that all subjects overlap. They also, think that other subjects such as art or physical education are not important as math and science. However, as you pointed out, they are as equally important because they do exercise different parts of the brain. Take PE for example, PE sharpens a student's motor skills. This is not something you can gain from a math class or English class. That is why i agree with your assertion that it is essential for students to experience a well-rounded education.

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  13. I completely agree that most of the time students get too caught up in what they have to do to get a good grade that it results in them just doing what is required of them rather than actually using their creativity to produce something unique.We get so caught up in the requirements we are told we must meet and we don't take the time to enjoy the experiences that we are having. I know I personally get consumed in what I need to get done for all of my classes and then once the class is done I realize that I never really took time to enjoy the learning process because I was so focused on meeting the requirements.

    -Kristen Negrete

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  14. Creativity is vital in our learning process. It is so often that teachers just teach us straight from the book and nothing more, giving us no room to be creative with our ideas. I agree with Kristen that I also get consumed with what I have to get done instead of actually enjoying what I am learning and doing during the process. Sometimes it is sad that we are so consumed with doing well on the test that we don't sit back and actually think about what we have learned. Sometimes I think that it is sad we have to be tested on concepts and the grades we receive on the tests will affect our overall grade in classes instead of keeping in mind that the creative part in our mind is important too and could possible be used to see our actual understanding of the concepts we are learning.

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  15. I agree with Makena and everyone else who has posted ahead of me. Students learn to pass a test, they don't learn to gain more knowledge of a certain topic. I am guilty of this, I will study and learn just enough information to get a good grade on a test, but once the test is over, I don't retain any of the information. I think this is a problem with the school system. We need to put less pressure on grades and more pressure on learning. If kids weren't so stressed out about getting a good grade, they would enjoy learning more.

    Kennedy Myers

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  16. I think that most students would agree with this idea when we truly reflect on the ways in which we learn in a classroom and through a textbook. I feel like there are so many elements of life that are affected by the perceptional differences from person to person, and that some individuality gets lost when we try to fit everything into the framework of a textbook. Although I recognize this, I know I do the same, and many times I will sacrifice my creativity in order to get a grade or appeal to a teacher in a certain way. I think this plays a significant factor in many people's approach to learning and can make people think of it in a negative light. Many types of textbook learning do not allow students to think for themselves and instead benefitting from the material they do just enough to get a satisfactory grade. I think this approach to learning kind of undermines the importance of being a student, and while many of us are guilty of it I still think it would be possible to alter the way classes are run so that creativity can still be valued.

    -Austin Hart

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    1. I agree with what austin is saying here. we have strict rules that we have to follow and if we do not follow them then life gets harder when making our own path outside of this framework. In most cases it is often easier to just follow along with everyone else. but then we are not getting everything out of our education. I remember in highschool i learned more in classes i got C's in than the classes i passed with A's.

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  18. I like the notes of Elisa Montano. Because my previous education, I believe that I do not have these researching habits. I am international student because the different education system between my country and United States. In China, teacher and student spend most of time on “textbook learning”, because teacher and parents only focus on grade. I think that this is a limitation for student in study. This is not a good way to encourage student to get question from themselves. Creativity is more importance than grade in our learning process. Develop creativity is more help for our future work or life.


    -Kunyi Xie

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  19. I agree with what everyone has been saying. We rarely try to learn things for our own benefit, but just to get the grade. We write what we think would impress the professor or other students, but try not to voice our own real opinions. I especially do that in classes that don't apply to my major, although I sometimes find myself doing the minimum in classes I actually enjoy. I think it is important to remember you can be creative in all of your work, and it will end up benefitting you more in the long run. Getting as much out of school as you can now will help you to be more successful and prepared later in life. I always appreciate the professors who encourage us to be creative and voice our opinions, and I hope it continues to happen more and more!

    -Melissa Van Dyke

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  20. Mr. Hart, you hit the nail on the head when you wrote "...there are so many elements of life that are affected by the perceptional differences from person to person, and that some individuality gets lost when we try to fit everything into the framework of a textbook." Because the majority of our lives has been spent in a classroom, we have come to trust textbooks. We spend so much money on them; shouldn't what they say be tested and true? Every textbook has a bias, every author has an agenda; when we sacrifice our creative and individual thinking to do the easy thing and just absorb what textbooks say, we are discounting the power of our own voice. We absorb just enough to get a passing grade on the test, instead of absorbing to learn about life. I have found that my own grades dramatically improve when I am actually interested in what the material has to teach me. If I don't have a natural interest in it, I do my best to find something interesting about it. What's stopping us from gaining all that we can while we are here in this university? We may never be in this position again.

    And who knows, perhaps we'll use all this knowledge on Jeopardy one day.

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  21. I have to agree with this post, i noticed that creativity isnt welcomed like it was in generations past. now more than ever parents are pushing kids to go to college and get a degree so they can get a job, regardless of the dreams or ambitions of the kids. not say it is a bad thing, they just want us to be safe. now secondly i do know that in my friend group people do not talk about their ideas as much because they get shot down brutally and made fun of for a long time to come, our society as a whole is not conducive to creativity

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  22. I disagree with the way our education system has students learn information. Some teachers are definitely better than others, but the idea of learning an entire semester's worth of material and putting all of the information on one exam does not make sense. This causes students (myself included) to cram for tests and learn little to none of the material in the long run. Our brains do not remember that information if we are only using it to do well on one test. I don't necessarily think textbooks are hindering our education as they serve as guidelines for the criteria our professors should teach. However, learning straight out of a textbook takes away plenty of creativity and hands on experience that makes a class worth going to.

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  23. I agree with Noah's view on this subject, as he addressed the wider scope of the outcomes of students caring more about their grades then their creative advancement. He stated that parents are forcing their kids to pursue college degrees just for the sake of getting a job and I think that this is true in many cases. There are some exceptions, but I have personally observed several of my peers who event resent their field of study to a certain extent or aren't passionate about it because they are only focussed on it landing them a job one day. I think this is sad because with that mindset, many people may not enjoy what they end up doing for a career. However, I do believe that this trend can be reversed if education institutions and teachers change their focus and the overall learning outcomes.

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  24. The current school system is put in place to create workers, not creators. This is because in America we've lowered the bar so everyone can reach it. Although we need workers, this system inhibits many minds that could potentially create something we haven't seen yet. Our schools do not consider that each and every students learns differently at a different pace with different passions. Instead of building off of the passion children have we tell them to do things that will benefit the current large corporation. We should be cutting down general education and expanding the possible paths for students to take. It should also be a choice to do either education or find a trade/vocation.

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  25. I agree with Joey and his idea of what the real reason for school is. School tries and covers all the general subjects to give its students a general knowledge of everything. That is all good if a student's passion fall into on of those subjects. The school system will allow that person to focus on that passion and turn that interest into a career. The problem lies when one of the student's passions does not fall under a school subject. Our school system teaches kids that they have to choose a subject even if one does not spark extra interest. The school system works for some but can leave many feeling lost and annoyed.

    -Scott Mosher

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  26. I agree with Austin and Joey’s opinions of this post. The current education system is limit because this kind of education make modern people lose creativity. The textbook limit the scope of knowledge of people. We can only learn a knowledge from one perspective. In school, the test or exam just test the knowledge in the textbook. Most of students lose the passion to learn deeper knowledge. Their purpose of study is doing well on test. Actually, learning a knowledge is vital than grade. As the post saying, the world is changing. However, the textbook is rigid. Maybe there are some knowledge we learn is not correct, but all of us believe that is true now. It is hard for us to overthrow it due to we lack the sense of doubt.

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  27. The one thing wrong with our school system is the way that most teachers assess their students. I like how this post brought up the fact that we "regurgitate the answers to get the grade". Most teachers will use assessment procedures that just asks for the student to memorize the answers instead of asking them to critically think. Also, not all students are the same, so one way of assessment is not always going to work on all students. It reminds me of a quote by Einstein which goes: "Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it is stupid." Not every student will be great at memorizing and regurgitating information for tests. That is why in order to help assess this next generation correctly, we must find new ways for assessment and get rid of just simple memorization and regurgitation,

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  28. I would like to touch on the first point that you made in this blog post. The idea that the scientific method has become a formalized education topic just like so many other things. I feel as though that I have grown up in a world where education has been sort of a "my way or the highway" feel when it comes to most teachers. I have only learned how to get good test scores and follow a list of ideas. Unfortunately, this has lead to a serious lack of critical thinking. I find it very straining to think about things in a critical way. This is because there is nothing in front of me prompting me to think critically, almost as if I am not an independent thinker. Scholarly is defined as leisurely pondering. With the education that we have received, I feel as though that this generation will be in capable of coming to intellectual conclusions simply by leisurely pondering. This is because there is not a set of guidelines set before us.

    Blake Ivancich

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    1. Blake I agree with you here especially when you said, "I feel as though that this generation will be incapable of coming to intellectual conclusions simply by leisurely pondering." I think this is where our experience at High Sierra is valuable because I still remember everything that I wrote about at the end of the semester. I think that the idea of tests for examination of learning is a poor method, and as much as I hate to say it, I learned and retained more from writing papers and arguing points than from a test that I studied for.

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    2. Blake and Justin, I agree with you both when it comes to tests kind of being a waste of time. I definitely retain more information when I am writing or thinking and noting why certain things happen. I also believe that its hard to think in a critical way. It is so easy to look up answers to a question, or get ideas for an essay, but is that really how we initially thought? Or were our thoughts changed because we read something that someone else said and liked their idea better?

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  29. I think that the more that we sit around indulging our minds into text books, the more our brains begin to deteriorate. Don't get me wrong, textbooks are great and all; they teach us so many things, but I think that we need to allow our minds to breathe and take in the things around us. Sometimes when reading out of textbooks, our minds wander off and we quickly forget everything that we just read. Our minds are caught up on everything other than what they're actually supposed to be focused on. Taking in the things around us would allow for us to learn new ways to study and take in information. We would be learning different ways to learn information.

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  30. I agree with Cody when he says that the way we study and have to cram for tests is not the right way/right procedure. I think that having a test on tons of material, ultimately makes you forget all the information you just retained for that test. Cramming for a test and trying to memorize chapters upon chapters of information, is not the right way to have students try and remember information and make them learn. Textbooks are useful, maybe very useful for some people, but there are many different ways of studying and learning information than just placing your head in a book for hours upon hours.

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    1. I completely agree with you. What do you think would be an alternative method of learning? I think that discussion and hands on experience tend to work better for me. Is this model even possible at an institution that caters to thousands of students?

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  31. I love what you mentioned here. I always remember in high school I would study so hard for a test and try and cram everything into my brain but then I wouldn't retain any of it. A few weeks later, a teacher would bring up a topic and everything I had once crammed into my head would be gone. I've made it a personal goal of mine to not be degree-oriented or test-oriented but career oriented instead. Having this type of rational thought has made it easier for me to be taking a test or a final and think through questions rationally--applying concepts and theories that I've learned previously in other classes.

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    1. I agree with what you are saying Nicole! I did the same thing throughout high school and often find myself doing the same in college. I try to remind myself that now I am learning and doing work for my major that I want to help me for my future career. That is a helpful reminder for me to try to get the most out of what I am learning and the work I do, so that I can be more successful later on. Especially now that it is finals week, we see many people complaining about all the work they need to do-but many people are reminded that we are blessed to be able to go to a nice school and get a great education. That makes learning and doing homework more worthwhile for ourselves, not just the grade.

      -Melissa Van Dyke

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  32. I personally love what you seem to be hinting at with the title of this blog, "Question everything? Really?" I believe that curiosity propels us forward in our day to day lives, and it is crucial to be asking questions of everything around us, beyond what we would categorize as "scientific". I agree with Brendan McKillop when he said that we must "allow our minds to breathe". We cannot neglect the importance of textbook learning, but there must be a period of processing the information after the initial reception of it all. Just like in a church service, the response time after the teaching message is crucial for the congregation to process and respond to what they have just heard. We don't listen in church just to memorize and take a test. We want our lives to be changed, and this should be the case in any arena of learning. Some describe it as the journey from the head to the heart. We must pursue the deeper level of knowing, beyond what it takes to recite knowledge for an exam.

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  33. The part line that really stuck out to me in this post was, "I often wonder if we have become so tuned in to textbook learning that we are hypnotized by apathy and controlled by compliance. We forget that life is organic, always changing yet retaining important constants." As I have been studying to be a teacher, I have wanted to become a teacher less and less because of the structure the classroom requires. More and more standards need to be met and because of this, teachers are now having to stick to textbook learning every hour of their day in order to meet the standards. When teachers take the fun, wonder, and amazements out of their classroom, students stop learning. Yes they memorize what they need to know, but they quickly forget it once the test is over. The classes that I have enjoyed most are the ones that stray from the textbook and I have the opportunity to learn from the richness of life (and the way that subject is in everyday life). I have slowly been steered away from teaching because of the debilitating structure that I feel would come with it. Hopefully if I end up being a teacher, I can figure out how to create a life-giving, enriching classroom environment.

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  34. I agreed with so many points you made throughout the entire blog post. As art major, my career forces me to think creatively. There is no formula to creating art. We are subjected to tradition that we think there is a formula for everything but there are different means of discovery without a textbook. With technology now days, we have access to over a billion different resources. Like you said life is always changing and what we think is scientific proof right now can change in 20 years. For example, people at one time thought the earth was flat but that changed. I also agree with what you said about being politically correct. Now days I have experienced a heightened sense of political correctness that I feel I can’t speak my mind freely or have an opinion of things that are traditional.
    I resonated with what Sofia said about saving money on a textbook and learning information through other means of resources. This class has enabled me to research and become comfortable with being open minded of the information I come across. All though I am all about thinking creatively, I think there are some things that I like to stick to tradition, especially when I don’t know much about the topic. I also agree with what Kennedy said about education now days. We are so fixated on passing a test rather than gaining the knowledge that will stay with us long term. I am guilty of cramming for tests and forgetting the information over time. I also resonated with the idea of changing the schooling system by emphasizing the learning and research of things rather than the grade we will get on exams or papers.

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  35. Concerning the current system of education, I completely understand the need to have standards. There are things we all need to learn and understand. Mathematics, history, science, literature, etc are all extremely important subjects to cover and include useful skills that are necessary to live informed and responsible lives. However, I think rote memorization for the sake of getting a grade is simply not what education is supposed to be about. Critical thinking has been replaced with standardized "education" that excludes argumentation. Argumentation, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to learn. You can't go into a discussion/argument without knowing what you're talking about, or you will soon end up looking foolish. However, we are so concerned with stepping on another person's toes and them being offended, that argumentation has gone by the wayside. Don't ask questions and don't have opinions. That's what is being taught. Socrates would have scoffed at the very idea, as his students were taught to ask all sorts of questions and delve into deep discussion with one another. However, we are slowly losing the ability and opportunity to have proper discussion/debates/arguments in any setting. This, I believe, is of great concern.

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  36. It is very difficult to watch learning simply turn into memorization. There is no longer the desire to know the process or understand the concept. When students are not understanding the concept they lose the creativity of discovering information in the ways that are most suitable for their learning style. Everything in the education system centers around a specific process and if you do not use that process it is incorrect. This is also where so much creativity disappears because kids are told things can only be done in one certain way. Telling students that tasks in can only be completed in one way contribute's to children's inability to problem solve. Children are beginning to believe that if there is a problem it can be only solved in one way since technology provides one immediate fast answer, but it is so important to remember that problems can be solved in a variety of ways over different amounts of time (that is also where the creativity piece comes in).

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  37. I feel like even I have gained the idea that learning and studying means memorizing word for word. I go over it so many time until I fully remember it for whatever I needed it for, whether that being a test, a project, or a presentation, yet once I say it allowed and applied what I learned I forget it. I often wonder what the whole point of studying so hard and for so long was even for? Just a few months ago though, I attempted to change the way that I studied with the desire of actually wanting to retain the information I am learning. Instead of memorizing completely, I would listen and go over what the teacher has said but then I would try and let my brain go off to areas where I knew that I would be able to understand more personally. For example in my history class, instead of trying to remember things chronologically word for word, I began going over it as if it was a story that someone told me about their life and I am just reiterating what they told me so they knew I got what they were saying. But even then, I still rely on going over my story, even though that is what helps me to retain the information longer, that is not and was not the way learning is meant to be. Learning is supposed to be a way of understanding things we may not have know before or things we were unclear about. It is about what you retain, not about having to memorize everything that was being told and discussed word for word because eventually you will either get confused with information you remembered or you will completely forget it in a whole.
    -Natalie Sepulveda

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