History of Education on Earth 101

My dear Martian Friend

Hope you and your green family are well. We are fine too. It’s been a bit warm since the last solar flare, but nothing beats Mercury in summers.

You asked me to describe the changes that have occurred in the educational system and environment, since your last visit here in 2011. Although I am not an expert but I will try to do my utmost.

On Earth, education has evolved tremendously in the last millennium. I have read in books that a long time ago we had various educational systems governed by various countries and each one thought their system was the best.

Fortunately it is not the same anymore so the students from Timbuktu to Tahiti and from Dubai to Dallas all study a very similar curriculum during their school years. Their assessments are also standardised throughout. This ensures uniformity in the material that is being delivered and the level of students joining higher education is almost the same.

This also means that there is no need for accreditations and evaluations in case a student wants to transfer from one institution to another, in any part of the world.

The students arriving at universities for higher education have all acquired competence in using computers, making all assessments to be online. The course material and resources along with the lectures are available online so the students can access them at any time of their convenience.

The course content and its assessment comprise mainly of case studies, design, application and research. Hence students only learn topics and material which are applicable in their practical life of the chosen discipline.

And lastly, education has been deemed as a necessity, like breathing oxygen (a pleasure to which, unfortunately, you are not privy to) and hence been made compulsory yet the costs are reduced to a minimum providing access to a multitude of students who historically did not have an opportunity to get in tertiary education.

That’s all from me for now. There are many other aspects I wanted to cover but more about them some other time.

Best wishes to everyone on the Red Planet

Archimedes' Principle revisited

We have all studied Archimedes' Principle in school. It has something to do with the displaced fluid and its weight, volume, buoyancy and so on. Boring stuff I know but an important topic covered in college physics and a topic that I had to cover for my class.

I decided to try a different approach and instead of expecting the students to remember all the terms mentioned above and making sense out of them I asked them to perform the same experiment Archimedes had done about 2222 years ago and see if helps them to understand the concept.

The feedback I received was phenomenal as it somehow clicked for most of them. The students could see science in action. Somehow conducting experiments in labs or watching presentations or youtube videos are never as satisfying as learning in a bath tub!!

Understanding won 6-0 against memorising.   

Learning theory

Values

Totally prepared and a full effort in the classroom

Being polite, jovial yet firm to gain the attention and respect

Setting realistic goals about my expectations from the students

Teaching concepts using real life examples scenarios and applications

Beliefs

Learning being a two way process. Something to the effect of willing buyer willing seller.

I do not know everything!! Hence strive to learn more.

The just reward of learning is knowledge not a grade.

Metaphor

Teaching is like tossing a salad.

All the veggies in the salad have their own identity and although they will retain their shape and size they must acquire some of the taste that the dressing, seasoning and condiments have to offer.

I need to make sure the dressing smears all the cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and even the hard-to-completely-smear lettuce.

As per Pareto’s principle 20% of my effort tosses 80% of my salad but I should put in the rest of the effort in to make sure it all gets tossed evenly.

My most memorable learning experience

I studied a semester, as an exchange student, at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. The time spent there counts as my most unforgettable learning experience.

Reasons, you ask??

Well for starters the whole idea of studying overseas was just too awesome. Having fellow students from all over the world and the urge to prove my mettle amongst this group really made me work hard.

Secondly, the “modus operandi” of the university in general and the professors in particular was very conducive for self study and it let the students find the potential, rather than the “run of the mill” method of teaching used at my university in SA.

My fellow students and I used our weekends to do a lot of sightseeing, initially around Germany and later into neighbouring countries. These trips made us trust and help each other in sticky situations. This camaraderie also found its way in our studies too where we would help each other with lots of group studying taking place.

And lastly the amount of fun I had with all these newly found friends was just overwhelming. I helped me to loosen up and take things in my stride. I had been a very nervous student all my life but during those few months I learned how to relax and spent my energy in the right path.

Nostalgia is killing me....................

Why PGCTHE?

I decided to enrol for this course since I do not have any formal teaching qualification. I have converted from engineering to teaching for good hence I found it prudent to learn the “tricks of the trade” too.

I do have some prior basic online learning experience through University of South Africa, with whom I completed an advanced certificate in management about six years ago. I found the experience to be challenging but the part I enjoyed the most was the flexibility it provided.

I bring my exuberance and “inexperience” (4 years and counting) to the group. I expect to learn a lot to make me a better educator. I hope the group and the facilitators would help me through this journey and keep me on the straight and narrow as I am known to go off at tangents every once in a while.

An intro

15 years ago had someone had told me that I would be teaching mathematics and pursuing it as a profession I would never have believed it. Yet here I am teaching various courses of mathematics along with other course in the field of mechanical engineering. If you want to know how, when and why it all happened then please read on.

In my pre university days I have worked as a butcher’s assistant, a locksmith’s assistant and a chef’s assistant. Then I got “promoted” and work as a photocopying machine technician for half a year.

And then the miracle happened!

I decided to join the Technikon Witwatersrand to pursue my studies. I found a job as a workshop foreman after completing my education in mechanical engineering and I was working for the South African government. During that time an opportunity arose when my employer had to conduct basic adult education courses for the rural populace. I volunteered to teach basic arithmetic and numeracy skills along with some other technical courses and, as the cliché goes, have never looked back.

 In 2006 I applied for a position at the Higher Colleges of Technology and joined their Dubai campus in July 2007. Since then it’s been four years and I have taught mathematics courses ranging from complex engineering mathematics to basic foundation maths. In between I have also taught some hands on practical courses for the Mechatronics students too.

On a personal front I am blessed with two lovely kids and an even lovelier wife. I love cooking, reading books especially on conspiracy theories and playing social squash.