The problem-posing education is too much teaching while the students have little to learn. They listen to the lecturer and write notes without any form of interaction. The students are supposed to remember all the information the lecturer gave for exam purposes, and once they do exams, they forget everything.
This system leaves the students empty and having learned nothing from the lectures. Several measures need to be put in place to help the students be actively engaged in the course, learn maximum, and apply the learning to solve problems in their field of studies. This essay explains the possible solutions to mitigate the problem-posing education.
First, lecturers need to apply interactive engagement sessions where students can have time to conceptualize what they have learned, discuss with their coursemates, and discuss with the lecturer before going to the next topic. Lectures can apply this concept using methods such as peer interaction. When using PI, lecturers need to focus on dividing students into small discussion groups. Each group focuses on a central point covered in the lecture which is followed by conceptual questions to probe the students’ mastery of the topics covered (Wang and Hwang 1656). Afterward, they should give students a few minutes to formulate individual answers and report them to the lecturer.
They should also discuss the solutions with colleagues in groups and convince each other of the validity of their responses. The session should end with the lecturer calling it to an end, explaining the answers, and moving to the next topic. With such kind of n approach, the student’s level of mastery of the subject is probed, encourages them to think critically, and the students learn from the lecture. They understand the topic more and its real-life applications rather than just “studying” for exam purposes.
The second solution to problem-posing education is reducing factual information that the student is supposed to memorize. As mentioned earlier, there is too much information that lecturers give the student which they write and memorize to pass exams. In reality, they don’t learn from such information. Much of the knowledge that applies to the students’ future careers is not yet known. Besides, most students do not remember a lot of what lecturers teach in classrooms. Even if they remembered, it might not help them in their future engagement since most of the information about careers is learned after graduation.
Too much of the information taught in the education system leaves students without any learning and becomes obsolete soon after graduation. Therefore, the education system should prioritize a system where they reduce the amount of factual information that is taught and embrace a system where students work together, gather information, and evaluate and deduct lessons from it (Walkington and Hayata 520). Such a system will help the learners acquire and retain knowledge for a long time and prepare them for solving novel problems instead of memorizing enormous information that does not add value to their lives.
Another solution to this problem is helping the student become active learners, problem solvers and independent learners. Passive learning, where the students receive information from the lecturer and write and memorize them, does not help them. They learn nothing. Instead, their problem-solving ability is limited and they become dependent.
To avoid such scenarios, lecturers need to help students become active learners, independent and problem solvers by giving them time to analyze concepts and generate their connections to other information. Students should also get time to internalize challenging topics and establish their relevance in real life.
This approach will ensure superb integration of information cognitively in the students’ minds and understanding them better. Active learning is essential because it will reach students in various dimensions, including auditory, visual, reading and writing, tactical schemes and kinesthetic, contrary to passive learning, where they write and memorize.
Generally, students have a better understanding and retention of knowledge when active learning strategies are applied instead of passive. Students will have better knowledge of the concepts to apply. They can also use ideas not only in exams but also in their careers after graduation. Active learning strategies develop long-life learners, people with the ability to solve novel problems and independent educators.
The subsequent solution to this problem is the application of collaborative testing. While lecturers put little emphasis on the use of quizzes in helping the students to learn and teachers to teach; they are a fantastic teaching technique and a grading device. Quizzes help the instructors put the learning course into perspective and get feedback on the students’ understanding of the course. Quizzes also help the lecturers to know what the students have learned and what they have not.
To the students, quizzes will help them demonstrate the level of understanding of the concepts, what they have learned, and the depth of their knowledge level. To apply this approach, lecturers should encourage the learners to complete the quizzes individually, form small groups and complete the quizzes again collaboratively. The procedure helps in improving the students learning and increases their ability to retain the materials learned previously.
Embracing experimental-based learning is also another way of mitigating the problems posing education. When it comes to biological processes and scientific concepts, students find it hard to grasp them theoretically. Applying informational-based approaches where students receive information and notes from the lecturer will not work and will leave many students learning nothing. To capture this concept, lecturers should embrace experimental-based learning to set up simple classroom experiments and use them for teaching.
This approach will be beneficial, especially in understanding scientific concepts such as ambient pressure, observing and understanding the concepts of pressure gradients, and understanding pulmonary pressure testing and several other biological processes that might be difficult to understand theoretically (Akben 1145).
Students can also learn and appreciate complex concepts through the replication of classic experiments during lectures. Simple experiments demonstrate and promote learning among the students, promote critical thinking and give a compelling and convincing way of promoting problem-solving ability. In addition, it facilitates cooperative learning through active participation in experiments and analysis hence an excellent way of promoting understanding and knowledge of concepts.
In conclusion, the inclusion of too many factual materials in the education system makes education passive and gives students very little knowledge. Most of them take notes, memorize and pass exams, after which the information becomes forgotten and obsolete. Therefore, stakeholders should unpack the curriculum, and help the students be active, problem solvers, and independent learners through active engagement, application of peers’ interactive engagement, embracing experimental-based approaches, and collaborative testing. This will enable students to study for exams and gain knowledge and understanding that can help them solve problems in the future.
Works Cited
Akben, Nimet. “Effects of the problem-posing approach on students’ problem-solving skills and metacognitive awareness in science education.” Research in Science Education, vol. 50, no.3, 2020, pp. 1143-1165. Web.
Walkington, Candace, and Carole A. Hayata. “Designing learning personalized to students’ interests: Balancing rich experiences with mathematical goals.” ZDM, vol. 49, no.4, 2017, pp. 519-530. Web.
Wang, Xiao-Ming, and Gwo-Jen Hwang. “A problem posing-based practicing strategy for facilitating students’ computer programming skills in the team-based learning mode.” Educational Technology Research and Development, vol. 65, no.6, 2017, pp. 1655-1671. Web.