Sunday, April 02, 2006
Lack of Creativity
Alright, I've said it before and now I'll say it again. The school system sucks.
I've had few teachers I consider to be truly good teachers and even fewer who I know are going to stick in my head for a long time. In fact, they number two... Brian Smeltzer (quite possibly my favorite teacher... and he taught Math) and Elizabeth Shales. Shales (even I can't get used to calling her Liz... high school and all) was my favorite teacher because she understood. She was the kind of teacher I enjoyed talking with after class about all manner of things from the symbolism and meanings in Lord of the Flies to human thought patterns. And one of the greatest lessons she had to offer us as a class was the need to encourage creativity in students, which the school board didn't do. How does one mark a piece of writing? Up until her class, I considered myself a mediocre writer at best, considering my lack of English for two years (from the enriched class and then the beginning of French immersion). But in her class, I was able to boost my marks from the mid 70s to the mid-high 80s and, more importantly, realize that there was some talent for writing within me. It was an odd talent, something that few would appreciate, but whatever it was, Shales saw it, encouraged it and gave me the marks for it. But the lesson applies to every subject. Smeltzer was the same way in Math. As long as you could show proof for your theory or why your answer is right, then he marked it right regardless of whether or not you used the method he taught you (barring him specifically saying otherwise of course). But Shales really stood out, since English is the subject where this applies the most, along with all the other art subjects. Creativity is a dying thing in schools, with the need for students to conform to standardized testing and teachers to give concrete marks. The square pegs are shaped into the round holes and you're lucky if you can survive being even a bit square.
So why bring this up now.
Programming is something most people think of a science. I disagree... its an art as much as it is a science. Its about bringing together pieces to create something and code has its own beauty. It isn't like Math with right and wrong answers (though its similar to mathematical proofs). Its something not many can understand, even programmers - they see it as logical A + B makes C. Which makes them, in my opinion, poor programmers because they will never understand the beauty and also... so many solutions require creative solutions, not just A + B = C. A + B = D is where the creativity comes into play.
I suppose that's why I like it so much. I'm a very logical person, but I'm also a very creative person. Programming lets me be creative within a logical structure and I like that.
So yeah... I'm pissed because Greg (programming prof) docked me 15% because I didn't follow his class diagrams (generally how to name things and roughly how things are supposed to flow). Mine does the exact same thing, a little bit faster even. In my mind, taking off marks because I didn't name things the same name he did is pure bull. With the slapping.
Speaking of Math, I often wonder why some people have a problem with higher level Math. I'm not making fun of you, don't worry. You probably speak French better than me.
But it came to me, the reason, while taking my shower. The way most people learn math at a young age is with simple examples based in the real world. Two apples plus three apples makes five apples. Six apples divided among two people is three apples each. All well and good. But Math becomes abstract. Decimals are the beginning, with parts of an object (though that still has real world equivalents... half a cookie plus half a cookie makes a whole cookie... through magic). Irrational numbers... pi, e, the square root of 2, 3, 5. Functions, calculus, complex (aka imaginary) numbers. Even in geometry, eventually you get into four dimensional geometry and then your brain goes out the window... heck, some people have a hard time with three dimensional geometry. Shockingly enough, geometry is the one part of Math I never liked very much.
So, the logical conclusion is that... people learn Math concretely which works for the simple examples but eventually they need to switch into the abstract world for the higher concepts... and that can be harder, since you have to either integrate the two worlds of concepts or convert everything you learned concretely into abstract (since the converse is quite difficult).
Why don't some people have that problem. For myself, I've always liked dealing with abstract concepts - Plato's Forms were a great discovery for me - and I learned Math abstractly. I have trouble counting things and with geometry, because they aren't abstract at all and dealing with them in the concrete world is something I don't usually do... I usually convert them to abstract problems and then it becomes easier.
The other problem with most people I know who struggle with Math or Programming or some similar subject is that they don't struggle. They look at the problem and they don't know where to start... and they give up right there. It seems massive, especially the word problems. They don't use what we call 'Divide and Conquer'... divide a big problem into smaller problems. And they aren't willing to just write down a solution, try something and see if it gives you an answer that makes sense. I've blanked on tests and forgotten equations... so I wrote a list of the information I had and tried various things until I found what worked. Writing a program is the same way. Its like people are so afraid of making a mistake at all... and they forget that pencils come with erasers and keyboards come with a backspace button among other ways of erasing mistakes.
Alright, change in topic... to....
I had something else in mind. Things come to me in the shower.
GARGH!
Don't be a square peg, don't be a round peg... just be a peg. Or, if you don't want to be a peg, be whatever you want, it's all good.
The emotional exhaustion is catching up to me, so I think its off to bed... soon.
The flashes of the past have begun to exhausted themselves (possibly because I've spent the last two days coding nearly constantly and coding is always good for clearing the mind).
Its odd, sometimes, how you can be thinking of something and you're unsure of how to say it... and then a friend writes the same thought perfectly in their journal. Eve makes an excellent point about human beings (though I believe in such a thing as a necessary evil... making that call though is something I hope never to be put in charge of). And Andi just wrote about half of my recent thoughts (some not voiced) in her LJ.
I think I need some stargazing and thinking time before sleeping, so I'm out.
*hugs to all* sorry for the rant on education lol.
- Dep
I've had few teachers I consider to be truly good teachers and even fewer who I know are going to stick in my head for a long time. In fact, they number two... Brian Smeltzer (quite possibly my favorite teacher... and he taught Math) and Elizabeth Shales. Shales (even I can't get used to calling her Liz... high school and all) was my favorite teacher because she understood. She was the kind of teacher I enjoyed talking with after class about all manner of things from the symbolism and meanings in Lord of the Flies to human thought patterns. And one of the greatest lessons she had to offer us as a class was the need to encourage creativity in students, which the school board didn't do. How does one mark a piece of writing? Up until her class, I considered myself a mediocre writer at best, considering my lack of English for two years (from the enriched class and then the beginning of French immersion). But in her class, I was able to boost my marks from the mid 70s to the mid-high 80s and, more importantly, realize that there was some talent for writing within me. It was an odd talent, something that few would appreciate, but whatever it was, Shales saw it, encouraged it and gave me the marks for it. But the lesson applies to every subject. Smeltzer was the same way in Math. As long as you could show proof for your theory or why your answer is right, then he marked it right regardless of whether or not you used the method he taught you (barring him specifically saying otherwise of course). But Shales really stood out, since English is the subject where this applies the most, along with all the other art subjects. Creativity is a dying thing in schools, with the need for students to conform to standardized testing and teachers to give concrete marks. The square pegs are shaped into the round holes and you're lucky if you can survive being even a bit square.
So why bring this up now.
Programming is something most people think of a science. I disagree... its an art as much as it is a science. Its about bringing together pieces to create something and code has its own beauty. It isn't like Math with right and wrong answers (though its similar to mathematical proofs). Its something not many can understand, even programmers - they see it as logical A + B makes C. Which makes them, in my opinion, poor programmers because they will never understand the beauty and also... so many solutions require creative solutions, not just A + B = C. A + B = D is where the creativity comes into play.
I suppose that's why I like it so much. I'm a very logical person, but I'm also a very creative person. Programming lets me be creative within a logical structure and I like that.
So yeah... I'm pissed because Greg (programming prof) docked me 15% because I didn't follow his class diagrams (generally how to name things and roughly how things are supposed to flow). Mine does the exact same thing, a little bit faster even. In my mind, taking off marks because I didn't name things the same name he did is pure bull. With the slapping.
Speaking of Math, I often wonder why some people have a problem with higher level Math. I'm not making fun of you, don't worry. You probably speak French better than me.
But it came to me, the reason, while taking my shower. The way most people learn math at a young age is with simple examples based in the real world. Two apples plus three apples makes five apples. Six apples divided among two people is three apples each. All well and good. But Math becomes abstract. Decimals are the beginning, with parts of an object (though that still has real world equivalents... half a cookie plus half a cookie makes a whole cookie... through magic). Irrational numbers... pi, e, the square root of 2, 3, 5. Functions, calculus, complex (aka imaginary) numbers. Even in geometry, eventually you get into four dimensional geometry and then your brain goes out the window... heck, some people have a hard time with three dimensional geometry. Shockingly enough, geometry is the one part of Math I never liked very much.
So, the logical conclusion is that... people learn Math concretely which works for the simple examples but eventually they need to switch into the abstract world for the higher concepts... and that can be harder, since you have to either integrate the two worlds of concepts or convert everything you learned concretely into abstract (since the converse is quite difficult).
Why don't some people have that problem. For myself, I've always liked dealing with abstract concepts - Plato's Forms were a great discovery for me - and I learned Math abstractly. I have trouble counting things and with geometry, because they aren't abstract at all and dealing with them in the concrete world is something I don't usually do... I usually convert them to abstract problems and then it becomes easier.
The other problem with most people I know who struggle with Math or Programming or some similar subject is that they don't struggle. They look at the problem and they don't know where to start... and they give up right there. It seems massive, especially the word problems. They don't use what we call 'Divide and Conquer'... divide a big problem into smaller problems. And they aren't willing to just write down a solution, try something and see if it gives you an answer that makes sense. I've blanked on tests and forgotten equations... so I wrote a list of the information I had and tried various things until I found what worked. Writing a program is the same way. Its like people are so afraid of making a mistake at all... and they forget that pencils come with erasers and keyboards come with a backspace button among other ways of erasing mistakes.
Alright, change in topic... to....
I had something else in mind. Things come to me in the shower.
GARGH!
Don't be a square peg, don't be a round peg... just be a peg. Or, if you don't want to be a peg, be whatever you want, it's all good.
The emotional exhaustion is catching up to me, so I think its off to bed... soon.
The flashes of the past have begun to exhausted themselves (possibly because I've spent the last two days coding nearly constantly and coding is always good for clearing the mind).
Its odd, sometimes, how you can be thinking of something and you're unsure of how to say it... and then a friend writes the same thought perfectly in their journal. Eve makes an excellent point about human beings (though I believe in such a thing as a necessary evil... making that call though is something I hope never to be put in charge of). And Andi just wrote about half of my recent thoughts (some not voiced) in her LJ.
I think I need some stargazing and thinking time before sleeping, so I'm out.
*hugs to all* sorry for the rant on education lol.
- Dep
// posted by Dep @ 10:43:00 p.m.
