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But what psychology currently tells us is that spaced repetition and recall is necessary to consolidate information into long term memory. Interacting with youn

by redahs 11y ago

But what psychology currently tells us is that spaced repetition and recall is necessary to consolidate information into long term memory. Interacting with younger people who force you to reexplain and repeat things you were previously taught is a great way to do this. Education without this is like building a sandcastle. The brain is going to discard the information after the test if you aren't required to reexplain it the next year, and your foundations get eroded.

QSIITurbo 11y ago
Yes, that's how long term memory works in the brain. Explaining things and social learning are excellent learning techniques, I'm not denying that. These days smart phones and social media are an excellent tool for communicating ideas with your peers. But it has to happen with peers that are on the same level as you are. Otherwise you are explaining too simple things that you've already mastered. This "discarding after test" is already and automatically addressed in the education: high school repeats things learned in previous schools and builds on those. Our high schools also have large final exams that require one to be able to understand the whole curriculum of the subject. The grade measures your memory, and understanding because you cannot just memorise everything. The same is true for all education levels.
- redahs 11y ago
  I don't think it's suitably addressed in current education structures. Under the principal of spaced repetition, you might also want people in the workforce infrequently tutoring college students, graduate students infrequently tutoring high school students, college students infrequently tutoring middle schoolers, so on and so forth. The teacher-student heirarchy was decent way to mass produce educational services during industrialization but creates unnecessarily rigid classifications between learners at different levels of knowledge. I think there is room for a more mutualistic exchange, between tutors who would like to clarify their existing knowledge, and between students who like to learn something new, to emerge in the future.
  - QSIITurbo 11y ago
    That is just your opinion. Repetition is currently working extremely well since we are able to train experts in fields that require a wide variety of knowledge from various sciences. Medicine, bioengineering, astronomy, military, education, and so on come to mind. We are also having university "students" tutor younger people. These are called teachers and professors.
    - Retric 11y ago
      There is little to compare our approach to. Does it really take 17+ years of education before the average person is ready to enter med school? Must the average person really be 32 before they can become a specialist doctor? k-12 (13 yrs), Collage (4yrs), Med School(4 years), Residency (3 years), Specialty medical training (3yrs) = 28 years. Ignoring pre k and the fact that this is the happy path.
      - QSIITurbo 11y ago
        Even with clearly above average students, it is rare that they reach, e.g., med school before their peers no matter what and the difference is a year or two, which is insignificant. There's also more to maturation than education and some people never become fully mature adults, for instance.
      - plonh 11y ago
        Why does 32 seem old to you? Residency and fellowship are real doctor jobs doing real doctor work.
        Retric 11y ago
        I am over 32 so it does not seem old, still it's a late start even when everything goes well. Many specialists start closer to 40. Residency starts out with extreme levels of supervision. The end of fellowship is the point where they are considered competent enough to not need direct supervision. Though doctors still have plenty of people looking over there shoulders. The point is 32 is when doctors can start paying back significant amounts of there student loans and saving for retirement. Including interest it's not hard to be 32 and have 1/2 million in debt. PS: Also, specialist's can't afford to make the path cheaper for the next person as they need to constrain supply to keep there wages high. Which not only increases cost of healthcare, but also medical research.

by redahs 11y ago

QSIITurbo 11y ago

Yes, that's how long term memory works in the brain. Explaining things and social learning are excellent learning techniques, I'm not denying that. These days smart phones and social media are an excellent tool for communicating ideas with your peers. But it has to happen with peers that are on the same level as you are. Otherwise you are explaining too simple things that you've already mastered. This "discarding after test" is already and automatically addressed in the education: high school repeats things learned in previous schools and builds on those. Our high schools also have large final exams that require one to be able to understand the whole curriculum of the subject. The grade measures your memory, and understanding because you cannot just memorise everything. The same is true for all education levels.

redahs 11y ago
I don't think it's suitably addressed in current education structures. Under the principal of spaced repetition, you might also want people in the workforce infrequently tutoring college students, graduate students infrequently tutoring high school students, college students infrequently tutoring middle schoolers, so on and so forth. The teacher-student heirarchy was decent way to mass produce educational services during industrialization but creates unnecessarily rigid classifications between learners at different levels of knowledge. I think there is room for a more mutualistic exchange, between tutors who would like to clarify their existing knowledge, and between students who like to learn something new, to emerge in the future.
- QSIITurbo 11y ago
  That is just your opinion. Repetition is currently working extremely well since we are able to train experts in fields that require a wide variety of knowledge from various sciences. Medicine, bioengineering, astronomy, military, education, and so on come to mind. We are also having university "students" tutor younger people. These are called teachers and professors.
  - Retric 11y ago
    There is little to compare our approach to. Does it really take 17+ years of education before the average person is ready to enter med school? Must the average person really be 32 before they can become a specialist doctor? k-12 (13 yrs), Collage (4yrs), Med School(4 years), Residency (3 years), Specialty medical training (3yrs) = 28 years. Ignoring pre k and the fact that this is the happy path.
    - QSIITurbo 11y ago
      Even with clearly above average students, it is rare that they reach, e.g., med school before their peers no matter what and the difference is a year or two, which is insignificant. There's also more to maturation than education and some people never become fully mature adults, for instance.
    - plonh 11y ago
      Why does 32 seem old to you? Residency and fellowship are real doctor jobs doing real doctor work.
      - Retric 11y ago
        I am over 32 so it does not seem old, still it's a late start even when everything goes well. Many specialists start closer to 40. Residency starts out with extreme levels of supervision. The end of fellowship is the point where they are considered competent enough to not need direct supervision. Though doctors still have plenty of people looking over there shoulders. The point is 32 is when doctors can start paying back significant amounts of there student loans and saving for retirement. Including interest it's not hard to be 32 and have 1/2 million in debt. PS: Also, specialist's can't afford to make the path cheaper for the next person as they need to constrain supply to keep there wages high. Which not only increases cost of healthcare, but also medical research.