I once saw this cartoon on the cover page of a multiple choice exam that was littered with questions that could have been aced by Google.
Unless the authors of the test simply did not understand Bill Watterson's message, or Calvin's for that matter, I'm not sure why this cartoon would be placed on the cover of the exam.
In the context of this exam, I think the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon below would have been more appropriate.
Joe: I love Calvin and Hobbes and when I saw this cartoon in my reader, I was surprised.
ReplyDeleteI am appalled by the second cartoon. Are we teaching kids how to memorize trivial pieces of information?
I love both of these. There are many more cutting observations about school life.
ReplyDeleteThe second cartoon hits close to home. It's exactly what I fought to avoid in both my regular and AP classes. (And was actually tougher to fight with AP kids who--just like I often did in school--memorized simply for the grade.) It's also why I joined TCI to develop engaging and conceptual curriculum for Social Studies. Kudos to all the teachers out there trying to get students to truly think!
ReplyDeleteCreativity is based on assembling the skills, facts and ideas at our disposal. Understanding is built on making meaning of the facts we know. Neither one is possible without a base of factual knowledge. Having those at your disposal requires memorization. You can't be creative with facts that exist only on Google.
ReplyDeleteAcquisition of a body of knowledge also has the advantages of being easier to teach and protecting society from teachers' ideological biases.