Advice to Students






 * "In short, learning is the process by which novices become experts. " (John T. Bruer; American cognitive scientist and academic author.)


 * "Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!" (Lewis Carroll, pen name for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, English author, mathematician, logician, and photographer, 1832–1898.)

This Page is intended for people who want to share their educational experiences and wisdom by giving advice to students. The document is divided into three sections:


 * Advice to Precollege Students
 * Advice to Preservice and Inservice Teachers
 * Advice to College Students

People who want to add their advice need to be logged in. (See the right side of the top menu for this Page.) In adding to this Page, please imitate the layout style illustrated by the examples that people have already contributed. A new piece of advice begins with a subheading surrounded by three equal signs on each of its two end; it contains the date and (if you like) your name or a "stage" name. Place your entry immediately below the heading for a section—that is, immediately below the line with two equal signs on each of its two ends.

Advice to Precollege Students

 * "In short, learning is the process by which novices become experts. " (John T. Bruer; President, James S. McDonnell Foundation; Schools for Thought, 1999, page 13.)


 * "An educated mind is, as it were, composed of all the minds of preceding ages." (Bernard Le Bovier Fontenelle; mathematical historian 1657-1757.)

11/21/08 Dr. Dave
If you can read well enough to read and understand this Webpage, then you have a level of maturity adequate to the task of reading the free book I have written and made available at http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/39-becoming-more-responsbile-for-your-education.html. The key idea is that you should be making steady progress in learning to take more responsibility for your own education and your own future.

11/3/08 Concerned Parent
Learn to distinguish between needs and wants. Wasteful conspicuous consumption is fueled by the advertising industry's success in convincing you that your wants are actually needs.

Advice to Preservice and Inservice Teachers

 * "“Teachers that can be replaced by a machine should be.” (Arthur C. Clarke; British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist; 1917–2008.

11/21/08 Dr. Dave
Learn to teach in a manner that emphasizes empowering students to deal with the life they will face as adults, and that will help you learn more as you continue your job as a teacher. See http://iae-pedia.org/Empowering_Learners_and_Teachers.

11/4/08 Anonymous Professor
I encourage you to try and make sense of all that you learned to do in your teacher education program within the parameters of the school and district where you teach. Being the best teacher demands being not only well informed but also brave. Let your students and your understanding of their achievements and needs guide your decision making. Finally, continue to maintain a community of teachers and others who will be your critical friends—ones who will listen and advise without hesitating to question and challenge your current practices. Stay in touch with some of your Teacher Education faculty members. I know that you will work hard to be the best teacher in this moment and a better teacher in those moments to come.

Advice to College Students

 * "Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late." (Benjamin Franklin; one of the founding fathers of the United States; 1706–1790.)


 * "Be the change you want to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi; major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement; 1869—1948.)

11/21/08 Dr. Dave
I have written a book that I make avilable free on the Web, and that gives my advice to College Students. See http://i-a-e.org/downloads/doc_download/1-college-students-guide-to-computers-in-education.html. My advice is that in whatever discipline or disciplines you decide to emphasize, you learn roles of computers as an aid to representing and solving the problems in that discipline, and that you lay the foundations for lifelong learning in these areas as they change and grow over the years.

11/15/08 Mr. Ed Research
Research indicates that unless you regularly use the new knowledge you gain in a college course, you will forget most of it in a year or two. The part you will retain consists mainly of the BIG IDEAS that you thoroughly understand. Thus, as you take a course, make a short list of the BIG IDEAS, along with short statements about what you feel is important to learn, understand, and remember about each of the ideas. Browse these notes once a year after you finish college, to help bring back old memories.