Science has existed since the first child was born [Impossible to judge that date] . It comes with every new born child and is then suppressed. Nevertheless it has existed throughout history in an IMPERFECT state with not enough brilliant flashes of inspiration. Now we are internet savvy we are capable of refining it and spreading its effectiveness amongst ordinary people. Hope you join the movement.

@Mcflewster "science has existed since the first child was born" loses me completely....what are you saying, exactly, that each person has to invent the wheel for themselves? How often?

@AnneWimsey I mean that it evolved as a facility alongside other routines of the Brain and the development of the rest of the body ... THEN ... got suppressed. Sad . What if our ancestors had suppressed fingers? { Actually some Japanese suppressed toes by binding the feet of babies. Sad too}.

I should have read your response before I wrote mine. It's like we ordered the same thing for dinner.

very good start

that is what is brilliant about mathematics. Not sure about negative numbers though unless you can rename them.

@Mcflewster Ahh, the old semantics ploy.

Machine learning can correct this.

@Mcflewster and so if the power goes out, or i am climbing Everest, I will need to reinvent math?

@AnneWimsey No, carry lots of batteries. Battery technology and digital storage is improving ALL the time. I am really saying don't neglect any method of getting an unrealised fact to YOUR brain.

@Mcflewster umm, heavy batteries with Really bad effects on the environment? I am saying a bit of rote learning & a pencil would be far easier & better for the planet too!

I agree they are useful but investigatory and other science skills are more useful. Teaching things to recall can be called pure training and done with a good computer program , giving the pupil all the time in the world to do it without pressure or coercion. Also the machine learning can be quite definite about the level that the pupil has reached - whatever level society advises. The teacher is IMO best used setting up novel situations and knowing the sort of pitfalls that the learner can fall into.

@Mcflewster Of course, a variety of teaching methods works. There's a pyramid somewhere (I'll google it later) that points out that hands-on experiential education is the best (and rarest)...Rote memory the most common (and least effective).

I was "set off" by the earlier comment; "tests and assessments are not useful if they rely mostly on the recall of facts." which I respectfully, IMO, disagree.

[acrlog.org]

@Robecology We are not in disagreement here. We both think science is good and the more hands-on it is the better. My point is about the use of teachers time when computing power should take the strain of establishing the most daily useful facts and getting pupils up to an acceptable level of instantly recalling those facts when needed.

I am a Biology teacher of 18 years in high school and 21 years in other settings. My pupils are children whose brains are developing at varied rates. None of them have a direct or sound understanding of society except what they learn at home or from their entertainment. As basic as recall tests may sound, they are an extremely useful means to build neuron connections to retain more information. Society will do an excellent job of creating those problem solving skills when they become adults, but many of my children don't have the brain capacity yet let alone their hormones are trying to stabilize. I firmly believe in giving them the basics of learning at school and giving them skills at home.

We must not lose the facility of mental recall but there are just too many facts out there. People train to cram their heads with facts to win quiz prizes but often neglect facts more important to their health and happiness. We must learn to prioritise storage (Importance and location) using tech to max.

@Robecology TEACHERS TALK TOO MUCH see new topic

@PeacefulChaos: Extra thought : If you label a child as incapable of immediately seeing a quick solution to a problem, then that will apparently follow as day follows night. If you find a few children at any age who show a flare for this and distribute them one to each of several small groups and encourage discussion and "strong helping weak" then everyone will be lifted higher in their abilities sometimes in surprising ways that you have missed.

That is my explanation for mixed ability teaching which I have always favoured. My UK education was comprehensive in one of the first areas of the UK to introduce this form of education.

Please do not put any child down.

@Mcflewster I don't know why you felt compelled to add "Please do not put any child down."....

but I concur. No putdowns. No degrading remarks. It's wrong, it's hurtful. It closes their minds to learning. It shuts them down.

I'm afraid that the Trump supporters and the #religulous of the world were -in my opinion - clear victims of the "put-down' too many times in their lives.