The Ultimate Purpose of Learning

By the time a student reaches college, they would have studied for tens of thousands of hours, both inside and outside of the classroom. They would have studied and memorized countless facts and formulas, from history to science to grammatical rules and languages. However, while most of a student’s time is devoted to digesting this information, they are missing the point of all of this studying. I assert that the ultimate purpose of learning is not to absorb what is being taught, but to master how to learn and how to think for oneself.

During my learning observation, I witnessed how the professors of the “Introduction to World Literature” class taught poetry. They did not require that the students memorize or learn the poems presented. Instead, they individually discussed with each member of the class their thoughts on each of the pieces presented. This engagement required the students to formulate his or her own thoughts on this subject, and then share their opinions with the others in the class. The class emphasized the importance of the individual experience over the subject. From the layout of the classroom to the way the students interacted with the professors, it was clear that the students’ ability to discuss and share their ideas were the focus of the class, not their assimilation of the topics being taught. The way the teachers challenged the students to think and discuss their thoughts on the poems rather than dictacting to them what the teachers thought were important. Besides, according to the syllabus of the course, the biggest portion of the grade is “short papers”. There is a special rule: first, they need to write short papers in class analyzing the reading materials. Then, after receiving the professor’...

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...being challenged and motivated.

In conclusion, learning how to learn and think other than blindly accepting and memorizing what we are taught is the key to learning. I see many classmates who are tired of learning and try to escape from the heavy pressure of studying. But this article is not just to remind the leaders and teachers in the education field, but also to show students that learning is very personal and that we should try to learn to think for ourselves.

Works Cited

Works Cited

Lenz, John. Introduction in World Literature. Drew University. Depts. of Classics. Syllabus WLIT 101 2013.

Einstein vs. Newton. Thinkquest. Oracle Education Foundation. 29 March 2011. Web. 15 December 2013.

Delbanco, Andrew. College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011. Print.