[geeks] Education

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 @ 21:06 -0700, Gregory Leblanc said:

> On Thu, 2005-09-29 at 14:00 -0400, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> > Me either, and I think that a lot of schools really do give too much
> > homework.  They seem to think that throwing homework at the students
> > makes them smarter, which is complete bullshit.
> > 
> > The majority of homework I had to do, and what I've seen recently, is
> > mostly mindless, repetitive, busy work.  It's design to create assembly
> > line mentality and compliant behavior rather than teach anything.
> > 
> > Better instruction in the classroom would eliminate the need for most
> > homework, and would give the student a chance to create their own
> > homework as they learn what they need extra study on.
> 
> What?  

Well, you've made it pretty clear you didn't read what I said.

I'm talking about what currently passes for homework, which is a load of
crap, and replacing it with exactly the kind of equalizing study you are
talking about here.

With regard to pacing... I was often given homework on subjects I'd long
since mastered. It was the *homework* that was primarily forcing me to
proceed at the pace of the slowest student.

Instead of spending my time at home working on something I actually
needed, I had to do useless, scheduled busywork.

> > Burying students with homework is NOT education.
> 
> Agreed.  However, eliminating homework doesn't serve students either.
> Almost nothing can be learned well without practice.  

Well, there are forms of outside study besides traditional homework,
most of which I find work a lot better.


-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["I want this Perl software checked for
viruses.  Use Norton Antivirus." -- Charlie Kirkpatrick]