Modern education

There have been several letters recently discussing the state of modern education, good and bad.  Let me state first that I am not and educator.  I am just a guy that spent 19 years taking credit and non credit college courses while working a full time job before I got my degree.

Along the way I learned that there are two methods of instruction.  The first is the conductive method.  In this method, the professor or instructor sets out a basic set of rules.  The class is given a sample of the method of solution and then assigned a set of problems to solve. In the following class the instructor and the class discuss the problems and the correct answers.  This method works well in subjects such as physics, chemistry, or engineering

The other method is called the inductive method.  The instructor assigns the material to be covered.  The student is allowed to reach a decision based on how he/she interprets the material.  Different ideas or solutions are discussed in the following class.  This method works well in such subjects such as literature, art, sociology, and philosophy.

The use of the conductive method in all classes would result in a group of robots, all thinking the same things.  To use the inductive approach in all courses would result in chaos with all students having a different opinion of what works in the real world.

The solution, of course, is to have a balance between the two methods.  It is up to the college to provide that balance and the student to select the school that has the best track record in producing results using the balance.

Dal Wolf.