In
a topic-driven, well-developed paragraph, explain the CONNECTION between
Willingham’s research findings and the researched opinions we have read and
summarized about the effect that certain types of new technology are having on
our brains. In your paragraph response, use summary, paraphrase, and
quotations—from several sources, including Willingham’s essay.
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In Willingham's article "Why Students Don't Like School?" he gives us ample amounts of reasons that support his claim: "the Mind is Not Designed for Thinking." Along with his logic, he incorporates a recurring theme of technology and how it is infiltrating the brains capacity. In Carr's book "The Shallows" he also mentions long-term and working memory, this idea ties directly into the internet. Having technology at our finger tips allows gives us the opportunity to look up information and store it in our short-term memory, however, we need to keep our working memory free with space and keep information in our long-term memory ready to be recalled when needed. Willingham sums up this idea with the statement stating "successful thinking relies on four factors: information from the environment, facts in long-term memory, procedures in long-term memory, and space in working memory."
ReplyDeleteIn "Why Don't Students Like School" Daniel Willingham poses the question, "Why is it difficult to make school enjoyable for students?" Students do not find working fun when the task is too hard for them. Carr states in the Shallows that people enjoy problem solving which can be at an appropriate intellectual level. Willingham gathers that memory if much more reliable than a person's thinking system. Both Willingham and Carr mention the brain's plasticity and how doing things over and over again will make that task automatic, whether it is driving home or looking at the internet. Change will catch a student's attention in class and as change happens, new neural circuits will form.
ReplyDeleteIn Dr. Daniel Willingham's essay "Why Don't Students Like School?", he insists that when people think something requires too much mental power, they become disinterested. However, he also states the fact that people get a sense of pleasure when they solve some sort of problem. Willingham believe that there is a perfect combination, a "sweet spot", where people are just curious enough to want to learn something, and the material isn't too far above their comprehension level, to the point where they give up on even trying. Willingham also points out that the human brain wasn't designed for thinking, but instead for trying to help humans avoid thinking. He says that the brain actually relies heavily on memory to do most tasks. He claims that "if you repeat the same thought-demanding task again and again, it will eventually become automatic; your brain will change so that you can complete the task without thinking about it." Nicholas Carr would be an advocate to this claim. In fact, he devotes an entire chapter to brain plasticity in his novel "The Shallows". He also emphasizes the proven fact that doing something over and over causes your brain to be able to do it more smoothly and efficiently. Carr goes more into detail explaining the science behind it, but has essentially the same argument. However, he uses this to prove a point different than Willingham's. Carr is using this science in order to convince people that using the Internet incessantly actually dulls the other part of your brain by only exercising the parts of the brain that are used when navigating the web. Carr further proves this point by quoting research psychiatrist Norman Doidge: "If we stop exercising our mental skills, we do not just forget them: the brain map space for those skills is turned over to the skills we practice instead." (35) While Willingham and Carr have different points to make concerning brain plasticity, they both would agree that in order to keep your mind from becoming incapable of actually thinking, it is important to practice mental exercise. You shouldn't solely rely on memory to go through life, you should apply deep thinking to situations in life as often as possible.
ReplyDeleteIn "Why Don't Students Like School?” by Daniel T. Willingham, he believes that the brain is not for thinking, but in fact it is for the avoidance of thinking. Instead of cognitively thinking through our problems we rely on past experiences with a similar problem. We recall memories instead of starting from scratch. However, Willingham insists that “Working on problems that are at the right level of difficulty is rewarding, but working on problems that are too easy or too difficult is unpleasant” (7).
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the problem with schools is that students are at completely different levels from each other, so one student may find problems too difficult while another finds them too easy. This brings about disinterest in schooling. Willingham has an idea for this, and that is to give students the “appropriate procedure stored in long-term memory.” Learning numerous facts is what leads to a better understanding of procedures. And as for the schooling, teachers just need to consider constant change in the classroom to keep students always thinking.
Daniel T. Willingham in "Why Don't Students Like School?", believes that when people think work requires too much or even too little mental power they become disinterested in what they are doing. Willingness states that "successful thinking relies on four factors: information from the environment, facts in long-term memory, procedures in long-term memory, and space in working memory". Much like Carr he believes we need to stop relying on our short term memory and begin using our long term memory. Both authors speak on the plasticity of the human brain, Carr believes that if you continue to do something repeatedly you will eventually be able to do that task smoothly and efficiently. While both of the authors speak on plasticity of our brains they both agree that if we do not practice mental exercises out brains could potentially lose the ability to think well.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Willingham, in his article "Why Students Don't Like School?” argues that the people are “curious” and their desire to expand is relentless but they avoid thinking, unless they are in the “sweet spot” where their problems are not too easy to lose interest and neither are too difficult to give up on trying them. Willingham also writes about the functioning of human brain and the brain being storage for information, which is further divided into “working and long term memory”. Nicholas Carr introduced this idea of separating and classifying between the temporary and permanent storage spaces of the brain first in “The Shallows”. Willingham, along with Carr, would agree that the thought- process we go through to make the simplest decisions in our routines come from our memory and not by the “thinking” done by our brains. These authors would also agree on technology diminishes individual’s long-term storage capacity as Carr puts it-
ReplyDelete“Not only has memory lost its divinity; it’s well on its way to losing its humanness” (182).
However, Willingham will have something to add that can possibly decrease the effect of technology on our thinking and storing ability. He would suggest that we “repeat the same thought-demanding task again and again” until we memorize the steps. By this, our brains will quickly know where to look for solution without having to think since our “brain serves many purposes, and thinking is not the one it does best.”
In Daniel T. Willingham's essay, "Why Don’t Students Like School?" he makes the case that students don't like school because our brains aren't meant to do that type of contemplation. He exemplifies the notion that humans are meant to think diligently, but not in a classroom type of setting. It is more of discovering things, and finding a way to to attack any type of problem more strategically. He also explains how when you think you are more apt to be able to solve a problem, you are more willing to dive into it fully, rather than avoiding it. For example, Willingham states how "Our curiosity is provoked when we perceive a problem that we believe we can solve. What is the question that will engage students and make them want to know the answer?" (12). All in all, Willingham is not against teaching and learning, or thinking hard in school, but more of a supporter of the fact that the brain is not made to just do 'work.' The problem that arises, however is that not all people can be sufficed by the school system if what WIllingham is true. This is because not everyone will always get teachers, classes, or even schools that will push them at a rate that corresponds with their brain.
ReplyDeleteIn Daniel Willingham’s “Why Don’t Students Like School” Whillingham forms a statement around the idea of what makes student enjoy school more. Throughout school the use of the human brain can be very demanding due to all the knowledge provided within each subject. Students don’t find the tasks done within a school or classroom is enjoyable better yet interesting. Without an interest even on the subject a student shouldn’t really have a desire to learn or enjoy school. In Willinghams essay he states that the more information processed within in the brain can change the way information is processed and understood. In both Nicholas Carr and Daniel Willingham’s writings both writers understand and show how the brain changes according to how it operates on a normal level. With change in how a student processes a task may better their interest entirely thus changing how they perceive their interest in school.
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