Autodidacticism(en.wikipedia.org)
en.wikipedia.org
Autodidacticism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodidacticism
11 comments
I was given several options. In some classes, I would be allowed to read fiction or otherwise zone out, but in other classes, I would simply be handed harder and harder versions of the material. I was handed 6th grade math workbooks in 3rd grade, and I was rewarded for good spelling with longer and harder word lists. I think that increasing the challenge, and not just catering to boredom, is an important part of the public-education part of handling the precocious.
I think one way to do this is by tightening the feedback loop between learning and the benefits of learning (basically, operant conditioning).
Personally, I learn a lot because I know it will often be directly beneficial to me. I don't learn things I don't think will be useful at all.
I suspect many students in middle school and high school find the concepts too remote to apply to their own lives. I think good teachers are able to make the application of knowledge salient and relevant, such that students have a personal incentive to learn it. As an example, I imagine the utility of coupling game theory with learning to work with others (friends even), because this is directly applicable to one's life.
Personally, I learn a lot because I know it will often be directly beneficial to me. I don't learn things I don't think will be useful at all.
I suspect many students in middle school and high school find the concepts too remote to apply to their own lives. I think good teachers are able to make the application of knowledge salient and relevant, such that students have a personal incentive to learn it. As an example, I imagine the utility of coupling game theory with learning to work with others (friends even), because this is directly applicable to one's life.
[deleted]
I used to think i was one, but I’m not sure learning from pre recorded material online counts now. I miss being in class
Can someone summarize this article for me?
It would be an exercise in autodidacticism to do so yourself.
As a kid, I pretty much ate books, and I had the good fortune to have several teachers that would just let me quietly read on my own in class while they lectured.
Not everyone has that temperament and ability, but it'd be useful to look at not just the mechanics of learning, but also how to get kids to want to learn. Paraphrasing, don't just teach kids how to multiply--teach to dream of what they can do with math.