Expert advice, on education, on the importance of allowing the students to learn from each other, instead of just from the professors only, off of the Front Page Sections, translated…
During a lot of the schooling years, a lot of students only heard their parents’ demands of study hard, to not bother about making friends. But, is this, an either/or choice that we need to, make? The experts pointed out, that the interpersonal relationships of the school interactions, can reinforce the performances of the science subjects, if a student has a good relation with her/his peers, it would help the students with excellent scholastic performances, while, a good relationship with the instructors, betters the scholastic performances for students who aren’t doing so well academically.
The research assistant of the National Education Testing and Evaluation center, Chen analyzed the 2007 TIMSS to the 3,901 eight-graders’ science subject performances, and found proofs that the students’ thoughts about interpersonal relations (including with the instructors and the peers too), how, through the attitudes to learn the science subjects (including positive feelings about the subjects, the confidence level of learning the sciences), in the end, relating to the performances in the sciences causally.
Chen said, that having a good interpersonal relationship in the schools (including with the teachers and peers), it can elevate the level of self-confidence in students in learning the science subjects, and helps them make better grades in the area; for students who are doing well already, setting up a good relation with the peers and focusing on the studies will help increase the confidence level of learning of the science subjects; while for students who are behind on their studies, having a good relationship with the instructors can positively reinforce learning of the sciences, to improve their performances in the science courses.
The lecturing professor from Taiwan University of Education from the graduate department of science education, Chiu also stated, that the students who are doing well can act as tutors, and, help give the lessons of what they’d learned, they’d mastered, to their fellow classmates, this can prove to the students that they really “understood the materials”, while the instructors, should help set up the right attitude of students helping other students, and pay more attention to how the students are, relating to each other in class.
There’s the “discovery & experimentation” in the new curricula, encouraging the students to engage in the hands-on, which is viewed as one of the key points of the reforms in education. Chiu stated, some students are good in taking the exams, but aren’t good at the experiments or the research, if the students can be split into groups, with the varied capabilities of all the members of the groups, then, the learning environment will then be, leveled.
Chiu believes, that assessment is no longer based solely off of the test grades, instead, in the sciences, if the students can work with one another, to complete their, laboratory assignments.
And so, this shifts the focus of the academics to hands-on, instead of rote memorization, because you would have to a real understanding of the material, to apply it in the laboratory settings, and, having the students helping each other in learning the materials, is way better than having a group of students, sitting still in the chairs, listening to the professors, yap.
Life, the Obstacle Course 