Beating the system

In my statistics class, students and I explore the depths of frustration along with dashed hopes. However, from time to time we also share the conviction that hard work can lead to deeper understanding and the shared joy of success through unanticipated comprehension of difficult material. In my opinion, there is only one way to learn statistics, and that is to be able to deconstruct the entire series of concepts to their basic constituents and then to be able to accurately rebuild the entire logical system from scratch. To learn this process, the entire deconstruction and rebuilding process must be done several times. Students who can do that feel inspired and exhausted by the end of the semester. They gain confidence and humility, and I do too.

There is another so-called learning style that has become increasingly popular in our modern education system. Clearly, students have always tried to find the loopholes in classes, to find the shortcuts to “success.” I will call this process “beating the system.” And here’s why it’s a problem; a student can learn “the answer” without being able to deconstruct and rebuild knowledge. That is, it is possible to have the right answer without gaining comprehension in any course from Cultural Anthropology to Earth Science to Quantitative Methods. The fact that educators allow this to happen in classes is a tragedy, and it speaks to deeper social problems.

The temptation to beat the system relates strongly to the fact that the system has changed dramatically during the last few decades towards “teaching to the test,” a process that is akin to stating that if a mechanic can diagram most (but not all) of the parts of an automobile, she/he can then assemble a reliable, running vehicle. Is there not an art form to all types of knowledge that comes from deeper comprehension of, practice with, and dialogue about concepts and ideas? Teaching to the test, that is, training students to learn what the right answers are without expecting them to learn why answers are correct, how those answers are derived, and into what context those answers belong, is tantamount to encouraging what used to be called cheating. That’s right, cheating used to be a process that involved finding and accepting credit for the correct answer without actually knowing the basis for that conclusion. Teaching to the test has sanctioned socially acceptable cheating.

Why? I think that the answer lies in how education has come to be viewed and valued in our society. We over-value degrees in replacement of common sense and practical knowledge. In various contexts, trade schools, vocational training, community college, even “state school education” are stigmatized as second rate. As our economy becomes increasingly service-oriented, members of society (myself included, I am no saint) have gravitated toward instant gratification. What could be more gratifying than other people (e.g., professors) proclaiming one’s smarts through a litany of A-grades on the transcript, often with a university degree as icing on the cake? We think we are having our cake and eating it too!

Or are we? If the system supports ‘beating the system,’ then we have cut our own educational throat, and what we are tasting is our life blood not icing. We are not having our cake and eating it too; instead, we are spiraling toward what one colleague terms “uneducated docility.” As more people claim college degrees under the beat the system model, the greater becomes social unawareness of what we don’t know.

So, what can be done about it? One basic step can turn a student into a standout in today’s education system: avoid short cuts at all costs and thus do not try to beat the system. If a class is grueling, then dive in deeper and confront frustration, impatience, and fear of failure. On the other side is comprehension and true satisfaction.