The thoughts on education
I haven’t posted anything for a year. Since then, I have traveled to Italy and started teaching again. I am now at the Allen Community College in Iola, Kansas. I am teaching Physics and Physical Science. In support of this, a primary interest is in the role of simulations and games in the teaching of science.
I asked my research assistant to write an essay on the Joy of Reading. For full disclosure, my research assistant is chatGPT.
Title: The Joy of Reading: A Gateway to Imagination and Empathy
Introduction:
Reading is more than just decoding words on a page; it is a gateway to a world of imagination, knowledge, and empathy. In an era dominated by digital distractions, the joy of reading remains a timeless pleasure that enriches our lives in ways beyond measure. This essay explores the multifaceted joy of reading and its profound impact on individuals and society.
Exploration of Different Worlds:
One of the most enchanting aspects of reading is the ability to explore different worlds, both real and imaginary. Whether it’s delving into the mystical realms of Middle Earth, traversing the cosmos in science fiction, or immersing oneself in the pages of history, reading transports us to places we could never physically visit. Through books, readers can witness the rise and fall of civilizations, experience the wonders of far-off lands, and confront the challenges of different eras.
Building Empathy:
Reading also fosters empathy by allowing us to inhabit the minds and hearts of characters from diverse backgrounds. As we follow their journeys, we gain insights into their thoughts, emotions, and struggles. This vicarious experience of walking in another person’s shoes broadens our perspective, making us more compassionate and understanding individuals. It bridges gaps of understanding between cultures, generations, and social groups, promoting a more harmonious society.
The Power of Imagination:
Reading sparks the fires of imagination like few other activities can. Unlike visual media, books require us to conjure images and worlds in our minds. This mental exercise not only keeps our creative faculties sharp but also allows us to co-create the story with the author. Readers become active participants in the narrative, enhancing their sense of ownership and connection to the material.
Knowledge and Learning:
Books are repositories of knowledge, and reading is an essential tool for learning. Whether it’s for academic pursuits or personal enrichment, reading broadens our horizons and deepens our understanding of the world. It empowers us to engage in lifelong learning, fostering intellectual curiosity and critical thinking skills.
Escape and Relaxation:
In today’s fast-paced world, reading offers a sanctuary for relaxation and escape. It provides a respite from the constant stream of information and a chance to unwind. A good book can transport us to a place of serenity and calm, rejuvenating our minds and spirits.
Conclusion:
The joy of reading is a treasure trove of experiences waiting to be unlocked. It offers an escape from reality, a bridge to understanding, and a path to self-improvement. To introduce students and adults to this joy, we must emphasize its transformative power in our education systems, promote diverse and engaging reading materials, and create environments that encourage reading as a lifelong habit. By doing so, we not only enrich individual lives but also cultivate a more empathetic, imaginative, and enlightened society. So, pick up a book, turn the page, and embark on a journey that promises to fill your life with boundless joy and discovery.
Trivial Pursuit
It seems we substitute the memorization of factoids for knowledge and the substitute knowledge for wisdom. These factoids are often about sports or celebrities.
With this measure of knowledge or wisdom, chatGPT has already passed the Turing test. The bar is rather low.
I am using a new way to update these musings. In my interest in how equations tell stories, I thought this might be a good time to start talking about that. It seems this might be a good place to start.
\displaystyle \overrightharpoon{F} = G \frac{m_1m_2}{r^2}\^{r}
This is the description of a commonly experienced phenomena. The first question is, when you look at this, what do you see? Is it just a jumble of letters and symbols? Or, is it a math problem. Or, do you see a description of the force created between two masses? What do you see? I don’t think these are the only three answers.
Why does anyone want to read a story? The opening paragraphs of a story do most of the work. My favorite opening line of a story is, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”; “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien. When I read that I was hooked and spent the next few weeks learning about hobbits and middle earth. As curious as I am(and was) with regard to how the ‘real’ world worked. This line drew me into a completely different world.
The question I have considered for a few years now is, why can’t introductions to the sciences and mathematics be as engaging? The opening sentence in the preface to a recent physics text starts, “The physical universe is enormously complex in its detail. Every day, each of us observes a great variety of objects and phenomena”; “College Physics”, by Urone and Hinrichs. I think many imaginative genius are turned away from making major contributions because the stories in the sciences are often buried deep in quite obtuse stories.
In an earlier piece I said that there may be more truth in fiction and more fiction in truth than we realize(or something to that effect). So, if one couched physics in an exploration of, “It was a vast, shining globe and it cast a light of lambent topaz into space–but it was not a sun”; “Star Wars: A New Hope”; by George Lucas, what would happen?
I suspect more young potential scientists read that line and were hooked than by any science textbook. Discovery is exciting; why is it often lost during education?
Evey kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact” – Carl Sagan
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.” ― Socrates
Imagination and elementary teachers. It seems to me some of the most imaginative people I know are elementary teachers. I think that they “get it” from their students!
There is plenty of time to learn Physics and Math but only a short time to ‘learn’ imagination.
It is my opinion that we do not allow children to be children long enough. We want to dress them up as adults. We want them to consider things on our terms; not theirs. “Calvin and Hobbes” and “Peanuts” provide great models. They will enter the confusing years of adolescence soon enough; but that is an entirely different story.
“The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” – Aldous Huxley
Mathematics is the gate and key of the sciences … . Neglect of mathematics works injury to all knowledge, since he who is ignorant of it cannot know the other sciences or the things of this world. And what is worse, men who are thus ignorant are unable to perceive their own ignorance and so do not seek a remedy. — Roger Bacon 1220-1292
How little we have progressed in 800 years. I can start with an example. Some of my first University students, “engineering students”, wanted numbers to ‘plug in’ to equations or they couldn’t understand the concept. At least that is what they said. I would submit that if you didn’t understand the abstract representation, you couldn’t really understand the concrete. It became clear that getting an answer, getting a grade for getting that answer was their goal.
So why is it that x = 3 is OK or better yet 2+2 = 4 is OK, but A + B = C is just too abstract of a construct? Or, I don’t understand A + B = C unless you give me values for A and B? While these are the most simple constructs of math, it seems to cause confusion.
This is not a lament on the poor state of math education, it is an observation that otherwise intelligent students fear and therefore don’t try to understand the value of math.
A math professor at the University of California addressed the following question, “Despite all this timeless beauty, many people dread mathematics. They say that they “hate math”. But if it is so beautiful as I claim, then why do people hate it?” Professor Edward Frenkel responded, “Imagine that you had to take an art class in which you were taught only to paint a fence or a wall but were never shown the paintings of the great masters. Would that make you an art lover?”
It isn’t enough to simply learn the tools of math, one must learn enjoy these tools and appreciate the power they provide. Math is at the heart of everything from music to space exploration. It is the language of the arts and sciences.
I have been ‘visiting’ with chatGPT a bit recently. If I am informed sufficiently, I can ask questions in such a way that it adds to my knowledge. If I don’t know much about a subject, sometimes my questions and its answers are not very good. However, if I stay with the conversation for a while, I often will learn something. It will often give me a place to start to learn more.
An interesting thought, to me, came to me as I thought about this. After being on the planet for quite a few years. And, after engaging with the U.S. education system for many of those years, it seems we are creating AI ‘wet-ware’. Our students seem to be trained to learn a rather large number of facts and are tested on their ability to remember them.
Of course all generalizations are false, and there are some excellent students out there; I had some in my class. And, of course, I saw far more in the first grade readers than in the University students.
The reason for the title of this piece is, it seems we are teaching students in much the same way we teach AI entities. A difference is the AI has a much larger memory and often writes better.
My teaching experience and now our experience reading with elementary school students has emphasized the importance of reading. Reading is Fundamental. One important thing I have learned is there is a big difference between knowing words and sentence structure and “reading”. Many of my college students appeared to only have skill in the first part; a few not even that. These were smart youth, without this critical skill.
I am impressed by the library staff at the Iola Elementary School in Iola, Kansas. They have a commitment to the students that many folks don’t understand. I am lucky; I spend time with these librarians/teachers and also with members of the community. The latter happens often at the local coffee shop.
The youngsters in Allen County Kansas are lucky. They have these great librarians in school, our local Iola public library managed by an equally great librarian. The Rotary Club of Iola sponsors the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and there are many other ways in which reading is encouraged in this area.
Kansas supports this through a regional library system of which our public library is a part through the Southeast Kansas Library System. However, the most important support comes at home; that is the foundation that allows students to benefit from these resources.
A project I am working led me to the calculation of π. The history of the calculation of π is an interesting journey. It started at least as far back as with Pythagoras of Samos(570-495BC). His work was fundamental to Archimedes of Syracuse(287-212BC) work with which I am starting.
This journey (aka rabbit hole) started with the Monte Carlo method of calculating π . The connections between early mathematicians and computer simulations are interesting. As I revisit this, I am sure I didn’t really understand this when I was introduced to it decades ago.
While teaching, one important insight I gained was the view of math held by my students. They saw math as a problem, not as a tool. In retrospect, I think this view was not far from my own as I struggled with the interdependence of math and physics. I was curious, but didn’t fully appreciate the tools with which I worked.
The point of this post is, I think our education system fails to present math as a fascinating subject with more intrigue than an online computer game. Mathematics is the language of science. Reading for comprehension is a critical skill which appears to be weak in many students. Reading math for comprehension is even less well developed.
The interested reader could start at https://mathscholar.org/2019/02/simple-proofs-archimedes-calculation-of-pi/