Before I begin, I need to establish my credentials. I prepared for IIT-JEE entrance, in addition took Biology in my senior secondary school, did an MSc in Chemistry and B.E in Electronics and Instrumentation from BITS-Goa and now I am preparing for civil service exams. The sheer number of books that have passed through my hands- I cannot claim to have studied them all, especially biology and electronics, but the rest were covered to the best of my abilities- is incalculable when you add novels and other books and on top of that, thousands of wikipedia pages too have assaulted by rods and cones and grey cells.
Now then, I would like to mention some popular misconceptions about studying and the truth behind them. These are not mentioned directly, but this is the mindset when those who have crossed their academic or learning from books phase in life. It is unfortunate though, they themselves must have gone through the same experience and yet forget it. I hope, rather I am sure that I will not forget this experience and once I am through with this phase, I will view everyone still going on with sympathy and will wish them the very best. But I am still here and I wish myself and the rest the very best as I begin-
1) Studying is easy. All it involves is sitting infront of a book (nowadays, a computer screen too) and reading page after page. It takes very little effort and in fact, it could be compared to the process of diffusion where the lesser knowledge we have faster the flow of knowledge due to the concentration gradient and learning becomes really easy
How many times have you simply stared and stared at the book and still nothing has made any sense?
2) One cannot get tired by studying since it is not real work. The body does not move (those who walk and study could get a concession here) and perhaps the hand moves while writing and the eyes too. But that cannot make one tired
Shouldn't we ask those staying in hostels about this? Especially the night before exams, about hunger pangs and desperate searches for foooood! Biscuits and maggi have kept me going on quite a few occasions.
3) Learning history is easy, it is like reading a story book and it is a fun process too
This depends on the quality of the book. Frankly, except for very few quality books, I find reading history boring and full of just facts, numbers, dates and effects without causes.
4) Practical is better than theory or one ounce of practice is equal to thousand ounces of theory
I would like to know how many were actually benefited by the outdated and irrelevant experiments and mostly damaged equipments in laboratories. I must confess the only exception was Digital Electronics lab- Instrumentation, Chemistry and Measurement Technique labs were quite useless and did nothing to my knowledge. School lab work isn't worth mentioning
I must admit that the last two can be made true and there are places trying to implement those. If there is a good education system that focuses on learning by doing or through experimentation and there are teachers who can teach students to learn and find out on their own and appreciate their efforts, this will happen. I hope this happens too, rather than the present rot learning system with emphasis only on exam results. The process is not what matters but merely the result and I dislike that concept. One should like the process or else becomes a burden. I would like to cherish the process of learning and I hope the results will take care of themselves. But it is easier said than done and this is another popular misconception- that one can be totally detached about one's actions and do them without worrying about the result.
Now then, I would like to mention some popular misconceptions about studying and the truth behind them. These are not mentioned directly, but this is the mindset when those who have crossed their academic or learning from books phase in life. It is unfortunate though, they themselves must have gone through the same experience and yet forget it. I hope, rather I am sure that I will not forget this experience and once I am through with this phase, I will view everyone still going on with sympathy and will wish them the very best. But I am still here and I wish myself and the rest the very best as I begin-
1) Studying is easy. All it involves is sitting infront of a book (nowadays, a computer screen too) and reading page after page. It takes very little effort and in fact, it could be compared to the process of diffusion where the lesser knowledge we have faster the flow of knowledge due to the concentration gradient and learning becomes really easy
How many times have you simply stared and stared at the book and still nothing has made any sense?
2) One cannot get tired by studying since it is not real work. The body does not move (those who walk and study could get a concession here) and perhaps the hand moves while writing and the eyes too. But that cannot make one tired
Shouldn't we ask those staying in hostels about this? Especially the night before exams, about hunger pangs and desperate searches for foooood! Biscuits and maggi have kept me going on quite a few occasions.
3) Learning history is easy, it is like reading a story book and it is a fun process too
This depends on the quality of the book. Frankly, except for very few quality books, I find reading history boring and full of just facts, numbers, dates and effects without causes.
4) Practical is better than theory or one ounce of practice is equal to thousand ounces of theory
I would like to know how many were actually benefited by the outdated and irrelevant experiments and mostly damaged equipments in laboratories. I must confess the only exception was Digital Electronics lab- Instrumentation, Chemistry and Measurement Technique labs were quite useless and did nothing to my knowledge. School lab work isn't worth mentioning
I must admit that the last two can be made true and there are places trying to implement those. If there is a good education system that focuses on learning by doing or through experimentation and there are teachers who can teach students to learn and find out on their own and appreciate their efforts, this will happen. I hope this happens too, rather than the present rot learning system with emphasis only on exam results. The process is not what matters but merely the result and I dislike that concept. One should like the process or else becomes a burden. I would like to cherish the process of learning and I hope the results will take care of themselves. But it is easier said than done and this is another popular misconception- that one can be totally detached about one's actions and do them without worrying about the result.
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