Educational Technology Books Eliminate the Habit of Memorization

Without going into Professor Ho Ngoc Dai's spelling, reader Duc Thanh sees other advantages of this educational method.

I learned about the spelling controversy when a friend shared a video of a teacher instructing students to read in squares, circles, and triangles. I exclaimed, "Oh, that's how it's taught."

"So that's how it is" was my joy when I found the answer to the question "Why are students so bad at thinking?" I asked this question since I was in school. I was not the best student, but my friends asked me the most questions.

Why? Because I don't guide my friends at all, I just listen to where the problem is and ask "why?". A reasonable why question, right on the problem, will help my friends find the answer. Everyone is very happy because of the feeling of solving the problem by themselves. It is very different from the feeling of getting 9-10 points because of memorizing the lesson. But my why questions are lost in my friends' minds because of the pressure of memorizing formula after formula, subject after subject.

Surely anyone who went through high school felt overwhelmed with organic chemistry 11, trigonometric formulas, electricity, electromagnetism... I observed my friends (and future students) having to memorize formula after formula, wondering why they had to memorize, these formulas don't need to be remembered?

I went to school but never had to memorize any formula. I always advocated memorizing as little as possible. For example, I consider + and - as one, x and / as one, sin and cos as one, tangent and cotangent as one... If I imagine the knowledge to be memorized as a large page, my job is to fold it in half, in four, in sixteen... to the smallest possible size.

I have principles to fold knowledge such as "the rule of reflection, the rule of similarity, the rule of oil spill". These rules I call thinking, they can be applied to any subject, any problem in life.

I was very happy and wanted to pass this method on to my friends and later my students. At first glance, my method seemed effective because it was easy to understand and apply. But I quickly realized that students could not escape the habit of memorization. It was like a deeply ingrained habit in every student.

"After finishing school, return it to the teacher", not knowing how to analyze and solve life problems is the consequence of this method. The main reason is that no one teaches children how to think from the beginning but only teachesIf it's like this, you can just apply it instead.. At first, there were few formulas so many children were good at them, but as time went on, there were more and more formulas. Children still kept the habit of memorizing and became less and less able to learn.

As children grow up, they become a disappointment to their parents, even though they have tried hard but they do not understand why. They think they are incompetent, while in fact, no one has guided them on how to learn, only how to imitate. Because of the pressure of achievement, many parents hastily cut off their children's development very early.

I gave up on my desire to change the education system in my country. But when I saw the teaching method video from the textbook series, I found the answer I had been looking for all along. When I saw too many superficial debates and criticisms, I wrote this article to defend the textbook series.

The first, bookVietnamese Grade 1 Educational TechnologyThe only change is the spelling. The 29 letters are written as they are read. /k/ is read as ca, /c/ is read as /cờ/... But when spelling, /k/, /c/, /q/ are all read as /cờ/. You should understand that spelling is just a method of turning speech into letters. And since it is a method, it is best to take the fastest and shortest path.

Later on, we will talk and write, but who cares how it is spelled? So, I would like to affirm that Educational Technology does not change Vietnamese in pronunciation or writing, it only changes the path from speech to writing.

Monday, the spelling in Educational Technology is scientific from less to more. For example, in the past, the word "ba" was spelled "bo a ba huyen ba". But the Educational Technology book is divided into two steps. First, children will learn to spell the horizontal bar first "ba la bo a ba", later they will spell it directly "ba huyen ba", fast and neat.

Tuesday, abstracting the letters with squares and circles is very meaningful. Children remember squares and circles much easier. In the video, many people have seen that the child remembers the sound, remembers squares and circles but does not remember the letters. Squares and circles become a bridge for children to reduce the pressure of having to learn letters right when entering first grade.

Innocent children think that "All letters can be turned into squares and circles". This is an innocent thought but it will be a bridge of thinking for children later. I have applied this thought in my knowledge folding. I like the book most in the point of thinking about this abstraction.

Wednesday, when objecting or arguing, I think everyone should bring a spirit of respect. What is respect here? It means to learn carefully before giving your opinion. Don't give your opinion superficially or in a sycophantic way. Until now, many people still think that the Educational Technology book instructs children to read C/K/Q as flags.

This book series has gone through 40 years, has had errors, has had corrections, has been evaluated. The book series has been expanded to 50% of students in choice, not forced replacement. How do you choose between a book that taught you to read and write fluently and a completely different new book. The 40 years the book series has gone through its journey, and more than 800,000 students choosing to study this book is the result of recognition.

Thursday, many people oppose Educational Technology books, why does no one oppose current textbooks? Is it because we are created from it that we cannot oppose it. One of the biggest disadvantages of current textbooks is creating a habit of memorization.

The pressure of memorizing letters is too great for children, creating a huge psychological shadow of having to memorize all the problems later. Educational technology has reduced a lot of pressure by abstracting squares and circles, by spelling scientifically, by summarizing spelling.

FinalVietnamese Educational TechnologyIt's just a book. The most important thing is the guidance of teachers and parents.

Thank you, Professor Ho Ngoc Dai, and all those who have devoted themselves to this book series. It will be a long road to reform, but I believe that this book series is the starting point for progressive changes in education.

At the end of August, a video of a teacher teaching how to pronounce the letters c/k/q as /cờ/ caused a stir in public opinion because it was different from the method commonly taught to students. That spelling is according to the book.Vietnamese Grade 1 Educational TechnologyEdited by Professor Ho Ngoc Dai and published by the Ministry of Education.

Chairman of the National Council for Book AppraisalVietnamese Educational Technology- Associate Professor Bui Manh Hung said that the document is controversial, but in reality, the method of teaching spelling in it has helped students develop quite effectively the skills of reading aloud and writing correctly. Up to now, nearly 50 provinces and cities with about 800,000 first graders (accounting for nearly half of the total number of first graders) are using this book.

Professor Ho Ngoc Dai shared that the book is built on the principle of "if you want to learn something, you have to do it yourself". When applied, students will be the ones doing the work, while teachers will only assign tasks, observe, and guide methods. He is confident that the book will last forever, and that the education system he builds is correct because it has a theoretical foundation of philosophy, psychology, and is supported by educational technology.