Week 6: What Do You Actually Need to Know?

This week we had a guest lecturer, Matteo DiMuro, an ICT specialist for Brandon School Division. Matteo is a quite lively presenter, which made him entertaining to listen to. He was also loaded with suggestions for tech resources that could be used in the classroom. I was jotting down notes the entire time throughout the presentation, taking names of websites and apps that could easily be used in some of my classes. I found Matteo’s presentation to be quite inspiring for technology use, and you could feel that passion and enjoyment that could be had while incorporating some of these resources. 

 One thing that stuck with me from the presentation, was Matteo’s emphasis on teaching practical skills in school, especially in math, and the importance of those skills later on in life. Matteo gave an example that differentiated between the book knowledge of a prospective engineer, vs the practical skills that universities (or employers) would be looking for. Having theoretical knowledge is good, but it is even better if you are able to apply it. 

 

While this example was being explained, my mind drifted to the past summer, where I was doing concrete work on a large potato shed. The engineer had created a very detailed plan of the building, with all of the calculations figured out, but yet during construction there were constant changes taking place. The farmer, who was paying for this shed’s construction, found several design flaws in various locations throughout the shed, which had to be altered. In this scenario, the engineer had significant theoretical knowledge, which led to the design, but perhaps had never seen one of these sheds being used. Whereas the farmer did not have any formal education, but had so much applied knowledge, that he could come up with a more practical design than the engineer. To excel at something, you need a mixture of both types of knowledge, and that is something schools should try to teach. 

 

Matteo spoke about how in schools, teachers tend to give students the exact information they need to solve a problem. But that is not how problems are presented in real life. There is much more extra information that has to be sorted out, and only the necessary pieces of information for solving the problem need to be considered. You do not see much of this type of thinking fostered through worksheets. Matteo described how sometimes when additional information is given to students on math worksheets, for example, they are then confused. Students wonder what they extra numbers could possibly be used for, and ask the teacher where the extra information fits in. That just goes to show how ill-equipped students are in sorting out a problem that does not have the steps to the solution handed to them on a platter. Essentially, these students are not prepared for the complexities of applied problem solving that they will face in life. Extra information should not lead to distress. Students need to see that they can sort information, and ignore the pieces that do not apply. This is what will best prepare them for life. 

For fun, I have included the following math problem, which takes a careful mind to reach a solution. Give it a try!