So what are your after school plans? Three common misconceptions about planning for graduation.

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Talking the Walk.

In a related post on the Anecdotes blog, social scientist Harry Collins discovered that if you have immersed yourself in the talk of an esoteric group – but not immersed yourself in any of their practices, you will be indistinguishable from someone who has immersed himself in both the talk and the practice in a test which involves talk. This means that the only way to actually know that a person possesses actual proficiency in a field he claims is by watching that person in action. No wonder every single social institution and field is filled with phonies, since a quack can pass as a professional so long as he is not actually required to perform at the time of appraisal, since there is NO difference between his talk and the talk of an actual pro. This fact should be a concern for the opinion makers as far as it concerns the educational sector of the country, where we find that emphasis is placed on understanding theoretical concepts, committing information to memory aka cramming, and pouring them out under exam conditions to pass. How have our standards gotten so low? The best of the graduates of our nation’s education system are going to be very capable only of talking the walk. Little wonder that graduates from Nigerian universities can hardly fit in to any organisation without undergoing some form of additional orientation and training if they are required to be anything more than smiley faces and corporate stooges. It has been said that the ultimate aim of education is not knowledge but action! Only by the action of enlightened and capable individuals, such as our higher institutions are expected to produce, can there be hope of our nation moving to the future we dream about.

Relating this theory to the method of examination of student’s academic progress, it then shows large loop holes in the educational system. Outside this country, examination is not done by verbal or written examination alone. I can speak authoritatively on the institution that I attend, which is why I say that written examination comprises at least 96% of your graduating grade, in a practical oriented course of study like engineering! The part of examination that has even the remotest practical aspect, is either shabbily conducted or neglected altogether. What are the reasons for this condition? Overpopulation of tertiary institutions? Reluctance of lecturers and school administration to enforce a more dynamic examination model for reasons ranging from malpractice, to laziness? What? If I were to ask the Minister of Education this question, what defence would he give me? What reason would my Vice Chancellor give, that the very best of his graduates each year will, sadly, only be capable of talking the walk! God help us!

Read more about the study at http://www.anecdote.com.au/archives/2008/05/expertise_talk.html