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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!rene
From: rene@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Making learning fun
Message-ID: <3672@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 8-Nov-83 17:37:55 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.3672
Posted: Tue Nov  8 17:37:55 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Nov-83 22:15:08 EST
References: <3666@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 31

I was in the "TAG" (Talented And Gifted) program at my highschool. In
eleventh grade I was thrust into a program where, after 10+ years of
nothing but totally structured learning, being told what to study and
when and how much, they told me "think up a project and then do it." I
knew NOTHING about creating projects, much less carrying them through.
No one told me about the scientific method, or anything. So I struck
out blindly and was a dismal failure (I tried to train a rat to run a
maze - no one told me you out to make regular observations, or that
you should have more than one rat, or that you shouldn't help the rat
along to hurry things up!). I was given no help at all the entire
semester, except for the "C" at the end of it. I finally turned to an
art project (you don't need to plan to draw a picture, really). I think
this program was the start of a feeling of incompetency that has plagued me
throughout college. I have never believed myself capable of planning
anything more complex than a trip to the museums (and I don't really
trust myself even there), even though I have carried through plans
when I had too. I have only just recently associated my reluctance to
do experiments back when I was a biology major to the disasterous
failure of my first, uneducated try.

I'm not sure if there was a point to this, but there it is. Not all
TAG programs (no matter how highly touted) are the best. Had I been in
a school like a friend of mine went to (open classes, study at your
own rate, etc.) I'm sure I would have been more prepared for such an
opportunity to prove my intelligence (we were picked on the basis of
IQ scores).

					- rene
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