Collaborative work like questioning and answering, how its even possible in an exam oriented environment in India?
While going through the article http://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2016/7/7-1, Learn How to Study Using... Elaboration, it made me think of my past education or even present schooling system in India from my siblings.
It's like turning the education system upside down, just changing everything, from teacher centric to student-centric. But how it will be possible?
Here the reasons that don't allow it to happen because:
1) Exam oriented environment
Exam oriented environment in India, marks means everything, no matter how you secure it, through copying, through cramming, memorizing or any method you like. You are judged through your marks. Even to tackle it CCE was brought. But it has become even a greater failure because of our smart teachers who could circumvent the effort, by distributing marks for free, showing good scores to parents and everyone. The end result is negligible learning due to CCE.
2) Lack of time
Leave about a lazy teacher for a while, what about teachers who genuinely want their students to learn something. To describe a single topic, it requires a scrupulous amount of work and time in the classroom which means lagging behind the syllabus. The question also comes to mind why a teacher will try it if at end students are tested by an hour exam which they have to reproduce what's already written in books. It's just transferring the information from books to answer script, and you are awarded no matter which method you apply to achieve it.
The exams don't test collaboration or questioning skills, it doesn't test the ability to imagine something novel or out of the box thinking.
Even these skills can't be tested through the one-hour exam. It can only be done through projects, a project that requires time, which student don't find because they have to clear entrances and exams.
Some students can say that they are given lots of projects. Yes, they are given, but without purpose or details.
Take the project of collecting medicinal plant photos. Project description ended with a single line. No description of what's the purpose of doing it, why they are doing it. If you ask the student, they will say that they are doing it for the sake of project i.e. because they are asked to do so. The end result is collecting randomly some medicinal plant photos (only photos) from Wikipedia, and then rebuking the teacher in mind for giving the task, as they don't find time to study their syllabus. And finally submitting the printout of photos, which are again thrown to trash after some days.
Here is how the same project could have been interesting, by giving specific details of the project.
1) Collect medicinal plant that you find interesting, about 20
2) Mention why did you thought it as interesting, what is the purpose/use of the medicinal plant you have chosen
3) Choose 3 plants out of it, and discuss that plant in the classroom with as much detail you can, where teacher and other students will assist in inquiry by asking probing questions
4) Note down the asked questions that you did not know, and probe the internet to find answers
5) Next day discuss the newly discovered answers with the classmates and teachers.
It's like turning the education system upside down, just changing everything, from teacher centric to student-centric. But how it will be possible?
Here the reasons that don't allow it to happen because:
1) Exam oriented environment
Exam oriented environment in India, marks means everything, no matter how you secure it, through copying, through cramming, memorizing or any method you like. You are judged through your marks. Even to tackle it CCE was brought. But it has become even a greater failure because of our smart teachers who could circumvent the effort, by distributing marks for free, showing good scores to parents and everyone. The end result is negligible learning due to CCE.
2) Lack of time
Leave about a lazy teacher for a while, what about teachers who genuinely want their students to learn something. To describe a single topic, it requires a scrupulous amount of work and time in the classroom which means lagging behind the syllabus. The question also comes to mind why a teacher will try it if at end students are tested by an hour exam which they have to reproduce what's already written in books. It's just transferring the information from books to answer script, and you are awarded no matter which method you apply to achieve it.
The exams don't test collaboration or questioning skills, it doesn't test the ability to imagine something novel or out of the box thinking.
Even these skills can't be tested through the one-hour exam. It can only be done through projects, a project that requires time, which student don't find because they have to clear entrances and exams.
Some students can say that they are given lots of projects. Yes, they are given, but without purpose or details.
Take the project of collecting medicinal plant photos. Project description ended with a single line. No description of what's the purpose of doing it, why they are doing it. If you ask the student, they will say that they are doing it for the sake of project i.e. because they are asked to do so. The end result is collecting randomly some medicinal plant photos (only photos) from Wikipedia, and then rebuking the teacher in mind for giving the task, as they don't find time to study their syllabus. And finally submitting the printout of photos, which are again thrown to trash after some days.
Here is how the same project could have been interesting, by giving specific details of the project.
1) Collect medicinal plant that you find interesting, about 20
2) Mention why did you thought it as interesting, what is the purpose/use of the medicinal plant you have chosen
3) Choose 3 plants out of it, and discuss that plant in the classroom with as much detail you can, where teacher and other students will assist in inquiry by asking probing questions
4) Note down the asked questions that you did not know, and probe the internet to find answers
5) Next day discuss the newly discovered answers with the classmates and teachers.
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