On topic: Teaching kids engineering
in [Design]
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From: Joel Koltner on 14 Jun 2010 15:16 "Jan Panteltje" <pNaonStpealmtje(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:hv5sem$glg$1(a)news.albasani.net... > I remember I asked my father some basic questions about electromagnetism, > and he freaked out (did not have a clue) and told me: You will learn that > later in school. > I think I still have not heard the answer that satisfies me :-) I remember being disappointed somewhere in the ballpark of middle school when I asked my grandfather -- who had a EE degree, but had been retired for a few decades and before that had been in upper management for quite some time -- how a bridge rectifier worked and his saying he "no longer" recalled. :-( > It is absolutely great that they allow those kids to think for themselves > now, > that is the age where the brain is sort of hardwired, those kids will become > problem solvers. Yep, agreed! When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade the teacher gave us all little personalized assignments to go build, draw, create, or whatever and mine was... "build a toy car with wheels that can support it *and turn*." I was quite convinced this was the most "advanced" assignment of any of them, and was proud that I was its recipient. :-) (My toy car ended up being made of wood blocks and cardboard. The wheels were cardboard since the tools to fashion wooden wheels weren't available, and I don't think you were allowed to start hacking up the wooden blocks even if you were, say, good at whittling... :-) ) ---Joel
From: Joerg on 14 Jun 2010 15:50 Joel Koltner wrote: > "Jan Panteltje" <pNaonStpealmtje(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message > news:hv5sem$glg$1(a)news.albasani.net... >> I remember I asked my father some basic questions about electromagnetism, >> and he freaked out (did not have a clue) and told me: You will learn >> that later in school. >> I think I still have not heard the answer that satisfies me :-) > > I remember being disappointed somewhere in the ballpark of middle school > when I asked my grandfather -- who had a EE degree, but had been retired > for a few decades and before that had been in upper management for quite > some time -- how a bridge rectifier worked and his saying he "no > longer" recalled. :-( > >> It is absolutely great that they allow those kids to think for >> themselves now, >> that is the age where the brain is sort of hardwired, those kids will >> become problem solvers. > > Yep, agreed! > > When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade the teacher gave us all little > personalized assignments to go build, draw, create, or whatever and mine > was... "build a toy car with wheels that can support it *and turn*." I > was quite convinced this was the most "advanced" assignment of any of > them, and was proud that I was its recipient. :-) (My toy car ended up > being made of wood blocks and cardboard. The wheels were cardboard > since the tools to fashion wooden wheels weren't available, and I don't > think you were allowed to start hacking up the wooden blocks even if you > were, say, good at whittling... :-) ) > Yesterday we saw the movie "Race the Sun" with Halle Barry etc. Supposedly in part based on a true story about how a truly motivated teacher can turn disinterested kids around and make them do great technical design work. Very good movie. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Nico Coesel on 14 Jun 2010 16:09 Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >Jan Panteltje wrote: >> On a sunny day (Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:50:48 -0700) it happened Joerg >> <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in <87n8frFlm8U1(a)mid.individual.net>: >> >>> Jan Panteltje wrote: >>>> On topic: Teaching kids engineering: >>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/education/14engineering.html?partner=rss&emc=rss >>> >>> Interesting. Do they do something like that in the Netherlands? >> >> Not that I know, but it has been a while since I was in kindergarten :-) >> I have mentioned many times in newsgroups that all kids learn these days is 'parroting'. >> There is just too much info dumped on these kids, maybe to keep them of the streets. There is so much to get interested in. I see the same thing with my kids. My oldest son isn't interested in technical stuff at all. I still have hope for my youngest son though. However finding a not-so-crappy electronics experiments kit is a real PITA though. >> I would have loved internet, so much you can discover. >> It was very difficult to get any good educational material at that age. >> I remember I asked my father some basic questions about electromagnetism, >> and he freaked out (did not have a clue) and told me: You will learn that later in school. >> I think I still have not heard the answer that satisfies me :-) >> I was always experimenting with electronics and stuff, miracle how I got my hands on it. >> It is absolutely great that they allow those kids to think for themselves now, >> that is the age where the brain is sort of hardwired, those kids will become problem solvers. >> Maybe not all of them, but those that do have it in them will. >> > >They will. In our days we were also very free, much more so than today's >school kids. The epitome of joy were bulk waste days, when people put >their old radio and TV sets out to the curb. That netted me so much in >parts that I rarely needed moeny to build stuff. Yeah the good old days. Where I lived they also had bulk waste days once per month. People could pile their large garbage at designated area's for the garabage collectors to pick it up. At such days I went out early (before school started) and picked up as much electronics as I could. I could gut a TV within a minute with just a plier and a screw driver. Competition was though; there where also people harvesting metals like aluminium. After school I'd normally take an extra round but the good stuff was usually gone by then. -- Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply indicates you are not using the right tools... nico(a)nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) --------------------------------------------------------------
From: Joerg on 14 Jun 2010 16:32 Nico Coesel wrote: > Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > >> Jan Panteltje wrote: >>> On a sunny day (Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:50:48 -0700) it happened Joerg >>> <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in <87n8frFlm8U1(a)mid.individual.net>: >>> >>>> Jan Panteltje wrote: >>>>> On topic: Teaching kids engineering: >>>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/education/14engineering.html?partner=rss&emc=rss >>>> Interesting. Do they do something like that in the Netherlands? >>> Not that I know, but it has been a while since I was in kindergarten :-) >>> I have mentioned many times in newsgroups that all kids learn these days is 'parroting'. >>> There is just too much info dumped on these kids, maybe to keep them of the streets. > > There is so much to get interested in. I see the same thing with my > kids. My oldest son isn't interested in technical stuff at all. I > still have hope for my youngest son though. However finding a > not-so-crappy electronics experiments kit is a real PITA though. > I think in Europe there is still Galileo, Kosmos and Busch. Maybe more. Ask in a NG there. >>> I would have loved internet, so much you can discover. >>> It was very difficult to get any good educational material at that age. >>> I remember I asked my father some basic questions about electromagnetism, >>> and he freaked out (did not have a clue) and told me: You will learn that later in school. >>> I think I still have not heard the answer that satisfies me :-) >>> I was always experimenting with electronics and stuff, miracle how I got my hands on it. >>> It is absolutely great that they allow those kids to think for themselves now, >>> that is the age where the brain is sort of hardwired, those kids will become problem solvers. >>> Maybe not all of them, but those that do have it in them will. >>> >> They will. In our days we were also very free, much more so than today's >> school kids. The epitome of joy were bulk waste days, when people put >> their old radio and TV sets out to the curb. That netted me so much in >> parts that I rarely needed moeny to build stuff. > > Yeah the good old days. Where I lived they also had bulk waste days > once per month. People could pile their large garbage at designated > area's for the garabage collectors to pick it up. At such days I went > out early (before school started) and picked up as much electronics as > I could. I could gut a TV within a minute with just a plier and a > screw driver. Competition was though; there where also people > harvesting metals like aluminium. After school I'd normally take an > extra round but the good stuff was usually gone by then. > Nowadays, if you strike up a nice conversation at a recycling center you might be able to cajole them into giving you some old modems and stuff. There's a ton more variety of parts to be had than in our days. And all you really need to scavenge is a good heat gun. Plus patience, to decipher and look up the SMT codes. I sometimes take apart consumer gear just to learn, mostly about packaging, and I am amazed about the hotrod RF stuff I sometimes see in there. When I was a kid a BFY90 cost a whopping and painful four Deutschmarks and its ft was not even 1/10th of what you find for free today. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Jan Panteltje on 14 Jun 2010 16:48
On a sunny day (Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:50:18 -0700) it happened Joerg <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in <87nfftFus0U5(a)mid.individual.net>: >Joel Koltner wrote: >> "Jan Panteltje" <pNaonStpealmtje(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message >> news:hv5sem$glg$1(a)news.albasani.net... >>> I remember I asked my father some basic questions about electromagnetism, >>> and he freaked out (did not have a clue) and told me: You will learn >>> that later in school. >>> I think I still have not heard the answer that satisfies me :-) >> >> I remember being disappointed somewhere in the ballpark of middle school >> when I asked my grandfather -- who had a EE degree, but had been retired >> for a few decades and before that had been in upper management for quite >> some time -- how a bridge rectifier worked and his saying he "no >> longer" recalled. :-( >> >>> It is absolutely great that they allow those kids to think for >>> themselves now, >>> that is the age where the brain is sort of hardwired, those kids will >>> become problem solvers. >> >> Yep, agreed! >> >> When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade the teacher gave us all little >> personalized assignments to go build, draw, create, or whatever and mine >> was... "build a toy car with wheels that can support it *and turn*." I >> was quite convinced this was the most "advanced" assignment of any of >> them, and was proud that I was its recipient. :-) (My toy car ended up >> being made of wood blocks and cardboard. The wheels were cardboard >> since the tools to fashion wooden wheels weren't available, and I don't >> think you were allowed to start hacking up the wooden blocks even if you >> were, say, good at whittling... :-) ) >> > >Yesterday we saw the movie "Race the Sun" with Halle Barry etc. >Supposedly in part based on a true story about how a truly motivated >teacher can turn disinterested kids around and make them do great >technical design work. Very good movie. LOL, I looked at 'From Dusk till Dawn'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Dusk_till_Dawn OTOH last week I bought the original 'West Side Story' DVD. The music is great, so are the colors (filming). Both are classics in their genre I think. I bought the DVD because I wanted to see it again (xxxth time). Timeless. |