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From: elg@killer.DALLAS.TX.US (Eric Green)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,sci.math,sci.physics
Subject: Re: Student preparedness (you know...)
Message-ID: <6498@killer.DALLAS.TX.US>
Date: 20 Dec 88 07:06:23 GMT
References: <15895@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Organization: The Unix(R) Connection, Dallas, Texas
Lines: 39

in article <15895@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>, bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) says:
>>>The way I see it, a teacher simply cannot conduct a course when
>>>there are both "geniuses" and "dead weight" in the same classroom.
> the ones who learn the most slowly.  They're the ones who need the
> *best* teaching.  The "geniuses" may benefit more from good teaching,
> but they don't need it -- they'll learn without being taught, they'll
> learn even in the face of active opposition.

BULLSH*T.

The more intelligent students may be capable of learning on their own,
but they very much still need to be taught. The content of teaching
however, can be much different when you have intelligent motivated
students. Such students are capable of learning the details on their
own; they need FRAMEWORK, a "overview" if you will, of where a topic
fits in the subject, its relative importance, things of those sort.
Whereas with people who are not motivated, or who have difficulty
learning, the teacher MUST spend time going over the details, making
sure that they understand everything necessary to go on to the next
level. The end result is that in a class where the two are mixed,
either concepts pass over the head of the poorer students, or the
better ones are bored and frustrated.

As for the "they'll learn without being taught, they'll learn even in
the face of active opposition", then why haven't we had a black Nobel
Prize winner in Physics? Are you saying it's because blacks are
inherently stupid? I think it's obvious, myself -- blacks
traditionally have faced active opposition to education, and have been
taught very poorly or not at all. 

Bright students, average students, and poor achievers all have
different needs, and all require different teaching styles. Putting
all three together in the same classroom is a recipe for disaster.

--
Eric Lee Green    ..!{ames,decwrl,mit-eddie,osu-cis}!killer!elg
          Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191 Lafayette, LA 70509              
Netter A: In Hell they run VMS.
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