[CAUT] How we learn (was: Re: CAUT Endorsement )

[Israel Stein]

At 07:29 AM 10/19/2007, Richard West wrote:

>I don't know if my longwinded explanation helps, but there it 
>is.  I'm glad you asked, because it helped me try to try to get a 
>better grasp of how we learn this profession.  We don't write or 
>teach in a vacuum.  Perhaps the greatest challenge is getting 
>through to people.  That means we need to know how people learn so 
>that our materials reach them.  I don't know that PTG has been 
>particularly good at addressing this aspect of learning.

Richard,

I have to date stayed out of the CAUT discussion - didn't have time 
to read all the posts thoroughly enough (I wish people would just get 
to the point instead of writing long dissertations) but the paragraph 
above stood out as something that I can agree with wholeheartedly - 
especially the last sentence. This is something that I have been 
painfully aware of as a results of many post-exam discussions with 
candidates whom I tested over the past 19 years - which led me to 
think about how effective the various modes of instruction prevalent 
in the PTG actually are. Some day I might write up some of those 
thoughts...  For now, I am glad to see that there are others who are 
aware that this at least is worth looking into...

Israel Stein