90 Comments

And you paid attention and learned a lot!One man's hell...

Expand full comment

I think it would be interesting to do something like that in a statistics test. If the teacher made them true or false at random, it would be just as likely to get a combination of true and false because that's the answer as because that's a mistake. As it is, teachers have a significant chance of pulling stunts like this, so it's actually more likely to get an interesting pattern if you get the answers right. If the students understand statistics, they'll realize they didn't get it wrong.

Expand full comment

Yes, it is usually the teachers and professors that give you life lessons along with their course that stick with you the dearest.

I most fondly remember the guy that made me crash my computer rather than the guy that taught me how to write the code to prevent that. Even though they were one and the same.

Expand full comment

@Toby

Most likely you have retained that information throughout your life thus far because it is meaningful and usefully relevant to you. When material is not *used* regularly, when there is no direct application or need for it day-to-day (or even month to month) in someone's life then it eventually grows dim in the memory.

If the nitty-gritty details of Capital Market are not relevant to her job, hobbies, social activities, and other aspects of her recent living experiences then it is not surprising those details have been forgotten as retaining that knowledge has long-since stopped serving and real and useful purpose.

Expand full comment

Great teaching technique! Thanks for sharing in such a nice article!

Expand full comment

My Favorite Liar

One of my favorite professors in college was a self-confessed liar.

Expand full comment

that's a fantastic idea... it seems like it'd be hard to implement, though. i imagine it would take a truly gifted teacher

Expand full comment

Wow !! What a great teaching technique ! I can see how this makes people pay attention a lot more and makes people REALLY study what they learn.

Expand full comment

Sounds like a prick.

Expand full comment

As a college student, this would help to reinforce information. I would undoubtedly enjoy this professor.

Expand full comment

hmmmm

February 24, 2008My Favorite Liar

[the following recounts an exceptional...

Expand full comment

The approach seems pretty amusing. However,Teachers don't let students water the subject.

Expand full comment

This points out the truth of the old saw, "There are teachers and then there are educators."

Expand full comment

fantastic!!! love itsheeptag

Expand full comment

thats brillant.

too much of the american education system is to take it from behind. to listen and be quiet and remember.

critical thinking and analysis is something that isnt stressed. by encourgaing the students to debate his very words, they learned to debate things within a broader sense as well.

brillant.

Expand full comment

That's EXACTLY the kind of thing I would do.

Expand full comment