undefined | Better HN

0 pointsWalterBright2mo ago0 comments

I remember reading about a metal shop class, where the instructor started out by giving each student a block of metal, and a file. The student had to file an end wrench out of the block. Upon successful completion, then the student would move on to learning about the machine tools.

The idea was to develop a feel for cutting metal, and to better understand what the machine tools were doing.

My wood shop teacher taught me how to use a hand plane. I could shave off wood with it that was so thin it was transparent. I could then join two boards together with a barely perceptible crack between them. The jointer couldn't do it that well.

0 comments

WalterBrightOP2mo ago

Also, in college, I'd follow the derivation that the prof did on the chalkboard, and think I understood it. Then, doing the homework, I'd realize I didn't understand it at all. Doing the homework myself was where the real learning occurred.

MarsIronPI1mo ago

I guess there's a reason why you don't spend most of your time at school in class with a professor.

WalterBrightOP1mo ago

The general rule was 2 hours of homework for each hour of lecture. With a 5 class load, it worked out to 45 hours a week.

This kind of workload was a shock to me. It more than a year to adapt to it.

darknavi2mo ago

In middle school (I think) we spent a few days in math class hand-calculating trigonometry values (cosine, sin, etc.). Only after we did that did our teacher tell us that the mandated calculators that we all have used for the last few months have a magic button that will "solve" for the values for you. It definitely made me appreciate the calculator more!

ungreased06751mo ago

This concept can be taken to ridiculous extremes, where learning the actual useful skill takes too long for most participants to get to. For example, the shop class teacher taking his students out into the wilderness to prospect for ore, then building their own smelter, then making their own alloy, then forging billet, etc.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse