The learning process

Marcus Buckingham said, “There is no such thing as a poor student in math. There are only poor math teachers.”

This idea of his got my attention, of course. You see, I ask this certain question in my seminars, “How many among you hate math?” Almost always, more than two-thirds of the seminar class would raise their hands. It seems that only a blessed few are gifted with the ability to enjoy math.

Schools in our country are good at relaying facts and measuring how good students can retain information. Math is taught as a theory and problem sets are thrown in as homeworks to reinforce the information students have learned. Incidentally, how we teach math to our students is a mirror image of the way Americans teach their own. But students from China, Finland and Singapore are apparently doing better in math (and in science) compared to students in our country. Because problem solving is the key to learning.

Maybe computer technology can teach us a thing or two about effecting effective learning. Video games, for instance, don’t call for a reading of the whole manual to be played. You learn how to play them as you play them.

But schools in our country, in essence, are teaching the manual without exposing children to the game. This is not effective at all. Just take a look at this 2006 Report according to the Federation of American Scientists:

Reading Alone                      – Recalls 10%

Reading and Hearing            – Recalls 20%

Visuals and Oral                    – Retains 30%

Do the Job                             – Retains 90%

I can remember vividly that my first introduction to computer was through games. Computer games made me comfortable with technology. And I was amazed that the more I played the games, the better I get at them. But frequency wasn’t the only reason why I became better – I was challenged to do better. And here are the magic words to it: “I never got bored trying to do it.”

I do a lot of trainings; various companies commission me to train their key execs. My one most important mission and motive in doing my craft is to keep my participants from getting bored.

Now, some people and other speakers think that the “magic” lies in the jokes I tell. So they copy some of mine and dish it out to their audiences too. What they fail to understand is that, jokes are stories that help illustrate the points. They must be educational and relevant as well.

The downside to being me is that I hate memory work. I really would rather improvise. One time, I was asked to do a commercial clip. All I needed to do was memorize three lines – around 40 words or so in all. I had to do five or seven takes, to the chagrin of the director! But when I’m in a talk show, I engage myself in the conversation with much gusto for hours, and still have lots of stuff to say for another round.

Learning math, or any subject for that matter, should not be about mere memorization. Subjects should not be thrown in as theories followed by a stuffing of problems to supposedly reinforce what was learned. This kind of memory work does not achieve much. Besides, there’s Wikipedia and Google to do that kind of “memory work” at a fraction of a second.

How I wish and hope that learning can be as practical and as fun as playing video games – challenging, motivating, inspiring, cajoling, engaging students to level up and learn more. This spells the main difference between fun and boredom.

Laughter is good medicine, as the Bible says. To enjoy and have fun is a gift from God. So go and find the fun in your learning experience.

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