Call it the “learning paradox”: the more you struggle and even fail while you’re trying to learn new information, the better you’re likely to recall and apply that information later.
The learning paradox is at the heart of “productive failure,” a phenomenon identified by researcher Manu Kapur. Kapur points out that while the model adopted by many teachers when introducing students to new knowledge providing lots of structure and guidance early on, until the students show that they can do it on their own—makes intuitive sense, it may not be the best way to promote learning. Rather, it’s better to let the learners wrestle with the material on their own for a while, refraining from giving them any assistance at the start. In a paper published recently, Kapur applied the principle of productive failure to mathematical problem solving in three schools.
With one group of students, the teacher provided strong “scaffolding”—instructional support—and feedback. With the teacher’s help, these pupils were able to find the answers to their set of problems. Meanwhile, a second group was directed to solve the same problems by collaborating with one another, without any prompts from their instructor. These students weren’t able to complete the problems correctly. But in the course of trying to do so, they generated a lot of ideas about the nature of the problems and about what potential solutions would look like. And when the two groups were tested on what they’d learned, the second group “significantly outperformed” the first.
The apparent struggles of the floundering((挣扎的))group have what Kapur calls a “hidden efficacy”: they lead people to understand the deep structure of problems, not simply their correct solutions. When these students encounter a new problem of the same type on a test, they’re able to transfer the knowledge they’ve gathered more effectively than those who were the passive recipients of someone else’s expertise.
In the real world, problems rarely come neatly packaged, so being able to discern their deep structure is key. But, Kapur notes, none of us like to fail, no matter how often Silicon Valley entrepreneurs praise the beneficial effects of an idea that fails or a start-up company that crashes and burns. So we need to “design for productive failure” by building it into the learning process. Kapur has identified three conditions that promote this kind of beneficial struggle. First, choose problems to work on that “challenge but do not frustrate”. Second, provide learners with opportunities to explain and elaborate on what they’re doing. Third, give learners the chance to compare and contrast good and bad solutions to the problems. And to those students who protest this tough-love teaching style: you’ll thank me later.
1. Why does the author call the learning process a paradox?
2. What does Kapur disapprove of in teaching?
3. What do people tend to think of providing strong “scaffolding” in teaching?
4. What kind of problem should be given to students to solve according to Kapur?
问题1选项
A.Pains do not necessarily lead to gains.
B.What is learned is rarely applicable in life.
C.Failure more often than not breeds success.
D.The more is taught, the less is learnt.
问题2选项
A.Asking students to find and solve problems on their own.
B.Developing students’ ability to apply what they learn.
C.Giving students detailed guidance and instruction.
D.Allowing students a free hand in problem solving.
问题3选项
A.It will make teaching easier.
B.It is a sensible way of teaching.
C.It can motivate average students.
D.It will enhance students’ confidence.
问题4选项
A.It should be able to encourage collaborative learning.
B.It should be easy enough so as not to frustrate students.
C.It should be solvable by average students with ease.
D.It should be difficult enough but still within their reach.
第1题:
【选项释义】
Why does the author call the learning process a paradox? 为什么作者称学习过程为悖论?
A. Pains do not necessarily lead to gains. A. 痛苦不一定会带来收获。
B. What is learned is rarely applicable in life. B. 学到的东西很少适用于生活。
C. Failure more often than not breeds success. C. 失败往往孕育成功。
D. The more is taught, the less is learnt. D. 教授的越多,学到的越少。
【答案】C
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据题干中关键信息learning paradox可定位原文第一段,意为:在学习新知识的过程中,你越是挣扎甚至失败,你就越有可能记住这些信息,并在以后应用这些信息。因此可知,越挣扎越感觉失败,就越可能学到知识。对应C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项属于反向干扰,paradox意为矛盾的事情,那么痛苦的对应可能是收获,且文意也提及the better you’re likely to recall and apply that information later,更有可能学到更多;
B选项对应原文the better you’re likely to recall and apply that information later,因此可知,学到的东西可能更能够运用在生活中,属于反向干扰;
D选项属于无中生有,文章并未提及。
第2题:
【选项释义】
What does Kapur disapprove of in teaching? 卡普尔在教学中不赞成什么?
A. Asking students to find and solve problems on their own. A. 让学生自己发现问题并解决问题。
B. Developing students’ ability to apply what they learn. B. 培养学生学以致用的能力。
C. Giving students detailed guidance and instruction. C. 给学生详细的指导。
D. Allowing students a free hand in problem solving. D. 允许学生自由解决问题。
【答案】C
【考查点】细节理解题
【解题思路】根据题干中信息可定位到Para.2第2行,Kapur points out that while the model adopted by many teachers when introducing students to new knowledge providing lots of structure and guidance early on, until the students show that they can do it on their own—makes intuitive sense, it may not be the best way to promote learning. 意为:卡普尔指出,虽然许多教师采用的模式在向学生介绍新知识时提供了大量的结构和指导,直到学生证明他们可以自己做——这很直观,但这可能不是促进学习的最佳方式。由while尽管……,以及it may not the best way…可知,他认为给予学生详细的指导不是很好,因此,选项C符合题意。
【干扰项排除】A、B、D属于无中生有,文章并未提及。
第3题:
【选项释义】
What do people tend to think of providing strong “scaffolding” in teaching? 人们倾向于认为在教学中提供强有力的“支撑”是什么?
A. It will make teaching easier. A. 它会使教学更容易。
B. It is a sensible way of teaching. B. 这是一种明智的教学方式。
C. It can motivate average students. C. 它可以激励一般的学生。
D. It will enhance students’ confidence. D. 它能增强学生的自信。
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】根据题干可定位到Para3,由第一句the teacher provided strong “scaffolding”—instructional support—and feedback. With the teacher’s help, these pupils were able to find the answers to their set of problems. 意为:老师提供了强有力的“支撑”——指导支持和反馈。在老师的帮助下,这些学生找到了他们那套问题的答案。可知,这种强有力的支撑使同学们能够顺利找到问题的答案,因而有成就感和自信。因此,D选项符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A选项,文章只是说明老师的指导使学生更容易找到答案,并不是说使教学更简单,属于曲解原文;
B选项属于反向干扰,由后文the second group “significantly outperformed” the first.,没有老师帮助的小组表现得更加优秀,因此B错误;
C选项文章并未提及,属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
What kind of problem should be given to students to solve according to Kapur? 根据卡普尔的观点,应该给学生什么样的问题来解决?
A. It should be able to encourage collaborative learning. A. 它应该能够鼓励合作学习。
B. It should be easy enough so as not to frustrate students. B. 它应该足够简单,以免让学生感到沮丧。
C. It should be solvable by average students with ease. C. 它应该可以被普通学生轻松地解决。
D It should be difficult enough but still within their reach. D. 这应该是够困难的,但仍在他们的范围内。
【答案】D
【考查点】细节理解题
【解题思路】根据题干中关键信息可定位文章最后一段,第五行开始Kapur has identified three conditions that promote this kind of beneficial struggle. First, choose problems to work on that challenge but do not frustrate. 意为:卡普尔指出了促进这种有益斗争的三个条件。首先,选择有挑战性的问题去解决,但不要感到沮丧。Challenged对应difficult,not to frustrate是指不至于让人解决不了而灰心丧气,因此既要有难度,也要在能解决的范围内。因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项可定位到Meanwhile, a second group was directed to solve the same problems by collaborating with one another….,合作学习是为了证明学生自学比老师帮助学习更深刻,并不是学生应该解决的问题类型,不符合题干要求,因此A选项属于出处错位;
B选项可定位choose problems to work on that challenge but do not frustrate. 而challenge不是easy,因此,属于曲解原文;
C选项文章并未提及average student,属于无中生有。