I believe that students who are simply "puzzled" are digging the same hole
deeper instead of realizing that they need to go mine elsewhere, and in a
different manner. Puzzlement, in less metaphoric terms, I see as the
product of
the attempt to continue on with a paradigm that has worked in the past and
trying to fit new "information" into it. (In "normal", non-revolutionary
learning, "information" is how the new is understood. That, of course, is
part
of the problem.) "Confusion" bears the promise of a recognition that one's
tried-and-true paradigms are of no value in dealing with the problems and
issues as presented.
Still grading,
Walter O.
MUN
Quoting John Wager <john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
On "Confusion:"
I usually do a check every once in a while in my philosophy classes,
asking whether the strange looks I'm getting on student faces is one of
"puzzlement" or one of "confusion." I tell them that if they don't know
what the heck is going on, they are confused and I'll try to help them
get a better grasp of what we're talking about. But if they do have a
sense of what's going on, and are puzzled by it, then that's a Good
Thing and I don't need to help them get over it.
(This check helps students realize the difference between the two; they
typically don't think about it, but it's central to philosophy. I
sometimes get a few confused students, but usually they are puzzled.
"That's Great!" is my typical response to their puzzlement.)
wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote:
>Quoting Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>:
>
>snip
>
>
>>Bertrand Russell:
>>
>> The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as
>>not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical
>>that no one will believe it. [The Philosophy of Logical Atomism]
>>
>>Robert Paul
>>sowing confusion
>>
>>
>
>
>Interesting coincidence. Just yesterday - yes, the Summer term is big
business
>in Education - an undergrad student of mine said that she was so
>confused
by
>what has been transpiring in our course that she's had to alter the
standard
>approaches and frameworks she used in finding cogency and sound
justification.
>The pedagogical moral of the story, you ask? Confusion is a good thing
>to
>promote in learning. Indeed, it may be a categorical requirement in
>genuine
>learning/teaching. Otherwise, you might as well go with (death by)
powerpoint
>and a laundry list of bullets for the students to regurgitate on the
>final
>exam.
>
>
--
-------------------------------------------------
"Never attribute to malice that which can be
explained by incompetence and ignorance."
-------------------------------------------------
John Wager john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxx
Lisle, IL, USA
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