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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I found the history in this fascinating, the science a bit over my head, and the classroom experiments absolutely incredible. This books also reads like an admissions brochure to MIT—and I’d known, I’ve worked in lots of admissions brochures in my career
In “Grasp”, Prof Sanjay Sarma provides a highly engaging introduction to the science of learning and discusses the history and future of education. Prof Sarma is a professor of electrical engineering and leads the open learning efforts of MIT. He introduces the science of learning across different levels of study ranging from basic neurobiological processes to cognitive theories of memory formation. Despite the theoretical content, this discussion remains highly engaging because the relevance to learning is clearly established in each chapter and often illustrated with episodes from Prof Sarma’s personal experience. The second part provides a critical reflection on the state of education, particularly in the US. A central theme of the book is that educational practice is based on theories that assumed innate unchangeable abilities. The education system is, therefore, implicitly or explicitly designed to winnow students. According to the book’s argument, the increasing need for highly skilled professionals requires a different approach that tailors education to individual needs. Prof Sarma introduces different models of personalised education and discusses possible solutions that could make personalised education available at scale. As someone working in higher education, I found the book highly stimulating. I especially liked that Prof Sarma provides a balanced discussion of technological solutions that highlights their promise but also potential barriers and drawbacks. I thought that the reference to MIT was a bit much. At some points, I felt like I was reading a prospectus for MIT. However, this did not detract from the quality of the discussion. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone working in secondary or higher education, or any researcher interested in education.
hopeful
informative
medium-paced