The problem with learning by wrote and working without calculation

[ZEDEZ]

Firstly I just want to say that working from tables and on site guides can be great for convenience, and this is good. But so often the very presence of these easy and convenient rules of thumb to comply with regulation may prevent a person from developing a deep technical understanding of why it is they're doing what it is they're doing.

So many times I've come across situations in life, and on forums, where people think they understand something, and offer advice. But when you ask them "why", they don't know - they just learned it by rote. And, as is often the case, they might be applying that fact learned by rote in an inappropriate situation, which can be dangerous or outright lethal.

Conversely, whenever I've met successful leaders in the industry who teach, the reason for their success and competence is not because they're memorized vast swathes of information, it's because they've integrated some deep (and often simple) concepts into the way they understand the field. From this position, everything makes sense without necessarily having to "know" everything.

Unfortunately both the teaching and work space are very competitive in this industry, so there is and will always be a pressure to "pass the exam" or "get the job done" as quickly and cheaply as possible.

It's a problem we see at large in society too - schools teaching to understand exams, rather than the real word.

Anyway, I just wanted to highlight this, as I think it's something worth keeping in mind when moving forwards with a career in a technical field, especially one where safety is the primary concern.

EDIT:

Corrected spelling of rote, thanks for pointing it out telectrix

 

[telectrix]

like the post, but the word id rote, without the w.

[h=1]by rote[/h][h=2]Definitions[/h]

1. by repetition; by heart (often in the phrase learn by rote)

but i know what you mean. just being my usual pedantic self. :nopity:

 

[andyb]

like the post, but the word id rote, without the w.

by rote

Definitions

1. by repetition; by heart (often in the phrase learn by rote)

but i know what you mean. just being my usual pedantic self. :nopity:

That's not being pedantic Tel, that's merely highlighting a spelling mistake.
Nothing wrong with that.

 

[ZEDEZ]

Thanks telectrix, I appreciate the correction there.

It seems like I need to go back to my dictionary and do some learning by "rote"!

The irony

 

[Deleted member 26818]

That's all she wrote.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Totally agree with this. Coming from the engineering side, I like to understand things from first principles before getting bogged down in regulations, conventions and factoids. Otherwise it's like parroting a song in a language you don't speak - you might be singing all kinds of profanities and nonsense if your pronunciation is a bit off, but you wouldn't realise. Trouble is, the general level of understanding of maths and physics is not really good enough to get really stuck into the whys and wherefores. Without physics, electrical theory must seem like voodoo.

 

[Leesparkykent]

on my apprenticeship I was taught why and not just how to do things. I try to take the same approach with my two apprentices and it seems to pay off. I've come across plenty of sparks who can do a good install but haven't got a Scooby when it comes to theory.

 

[ipf]

Totally agree with this. Coming from the engineering side, I like to understand things from first principles before getting bogged down in regulations, conventions and factoids. Otherwise it's like parroting a song in a language you don't speak - you might be singing all kinds of profanities and nonsense if your pronunciation is a bit off, but you wouldn't realise. Trouble is, the general level of understanding of maths and physics is not really good enough to get really stuck into the whys and wherefores. Without physics, electrical theory must seem like voodoo.

Anyone remember doing their 'times tables' in unison at infant school?

 

[ruston]

Anyone remember doing their 'times tables' in unison at infant school?

I remember one sadistic teacher would give us twenty words to learn to spell for homework on a Friday night,for the weekend.
On Monday morning it was over the desk , and a crack from the belt for everyone that was incorrect.

 

[happysteve]

I agree with the original post too (and others above who've supported it). Teaching, and learning, material in a way that "makes sense" is a lot easier in the long run. I think I'm fundamentally quite a lazy person, mentally: I don't want to remember lots of individual little facts, I want an overview of the big picture, then I can derive the details as I go along. Distilling information down to the nitty gritty - the core knowledge - is usually a lot more successful for long term retention of that knowledge. I've tried to encourage others in the Trainee Section of the forum to do the same. (That, and drawing things out.. )

 

[davesparks]

As an apprentice my mentor had a theory that there are two types of electrician in the world.
1- the parrot-fashion electrician, being the person who learns how to do a job in a certain way and can plod along doing it the same all day long. great at large scale site work where endless conduit work a block of 100 identical flats is on the menu.
2- the thinking electrician, being the person who understands the theory, regulations and can think for themselves. Great at all the more interesting aspects of the job, also generally rises above and supervises a team of parrot-fashion Sparks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[sparksburnout]

This post is very good and raises an excellent point. I always refer to such people as "educated beyond their ability". You come across loads of them.