Surely, the learner should indulge in the material that is set before them, and not pursue any interests outside of these borders. Or can they allow their minds to wander to other areas of learning that are associated with the topic. What if the topic of autonomous thought is not associated with the learning topic, but the ideas surrounding the autonomous thought are related?
This is deep stuff, I know. And, rather than incur the wrath of many, or cause additional expense to you in the form of the academic equivalent of an aqualung (Scuba gear), I'll stop there, for now.
However, I did recently experience something that inspired me to consider the role of autonomous thought in the learning process... if somewhat indirectly. I am engaged in a course of learning that requires, as do most formal academic studies, a set of learning material. This learning material takes the form of a pre-printed package of excerpts from various authors of interest. When I got my course package and read (skimmed) through it, I discovered that one of the readings had the pages printed out of sequence. I made due inquiry as to why, and the blame game began.
It comes down to autonomous thought, in my opinion. The material was provided for printing in a specific sequence, which happened to place the pages of this reading out of order. Rather than confirming the out-of-sequence printing of the material, the printing was performed literally... that is, exactly the way it had been provided, including the out-of-sequence pages. Remember, this is a reading for an adult learner in a course of study.
I'll be honest, I don't know if it is the out-of-sequence reading that has me worked up, or the lack of autonomous behaviour on the part of the printers, but I am worked up, that's for sure.
Initially it was simply the out-of-sequence pages that caused my learning to take a side road, hit a speed bump, or any other metaphor of choice. Suddenly, the impact of this inconvenience becomes compounded by the lack of ownership by the printers of the error. Or perhaps it should be the provider of the material that is to blame? No matter where the 'blame' lays, this has definitely caused me to deviate from the material of the course, and I shall now have to redouble my efforts to get back on track.
Aaaaah, the joys of higher education!
You know, it's kind of like finding that burnt Rice Krispie at the bottom of the bowl. You can eat it or throw it away. Your choice.
ReplyDelete@J. I tried the rice krispie, didn't like the taste, and decided to throw it out. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteAt the very least, an educational experience.
ReplyDelete