Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Trouble with Outliers Pt. 1 - Chapter 3

[Outliers Reading Group]

In his “Trouble with Geniuses, Part I” chapter, Malcolm Gladwell begins to clarify his argument that we continually have trouble understanding outliers. Researchers and an array of commentators often rely too heavily on conventional measures of aptitude to predict the ingredients of those who become extraordinary successes. For example, we label those who perform exceptionally well on IQ tests “geniuses,” and that designation falsely presumes that they will become highly successful.

According to Gladwell, individuals hardly need to be exceptionally intelligent or super smart to do really well. Instead, they merely need to be “smart enough.” And those who are smart enough do not need to attend the very best schools to gain the knowledge and training to win the Nobel Prize in Medicine, for example. They just have to attend a school that is “good enough.”

What's one important thing we should consider if we want to ensure that our local learning environments are “good enough”? Why?

Some previous answers
To make learning environments "good enough" they should be made smaller. Smaller classroom size with fewer students will take away from distractions and allow a more direct form of teaching from the instructor. --T.T.

A good collegiate environment also needs to have the proper resources for success to use. There is only so much that can be achieved without having resources around you to complete research, study time, and to build up your brain power. --R.C.

When it comes to "good enough" collegiate enviornment, the institution must mandate a well rounded curriculum. Taking general education class is crucial when it comes to becoming a well rounded individual. --C.A.

20 comments:

Alicia S said...

In order to ensure that our learning environments are "good enough" we first need to make sure that teachers are well qualified and highly skilled. Some teachers are qualified but surprisingly not skilled enough when it comes to dealing with students. Secondly, we need to make sure that we provide valuable resources for students to build on outside of the classroom and make sure that curriculum is always challenging.
I am Alicia Sears

Unknown said...

In order to ensure that our environments are good enough, we need to put more focus on where we place our learning institutions. If the school is in a bad place, it will be hard to focus if you are constantly worrying about something bad happening to you.

Unknown said...

In order to ensure that our learning environments are "good enough", we need to make sure that the teachers are skilled enough to teach our students. In Chicago, the mayor shut down a lot of schools because they were underperforming and all of the kids had to change schools that were so far away. The schools would not have failed if the teachers were qualified to teach them.

Mikaela Suggs said...

An important thing we should consider if we want to ensure that our local learning environments are “good enough" would be focusing on making these environments comfortable. If students feel as if they can't express themselves and voice new/fresh ideas, a learning opportunity could be hindered.

Jasmine Williams said...

To ensure learning environments are "good enough", the technology needs to be current. Also, resources should be bountiful and available to all students. Teachers should present a challenging, but fair curriculum. The standards of teachers should be as high as the standards of the students. A "good enough" learning environment has continual room for growth.

Unknown said...

In order to ensure that our learning environments are "good enough" we need to make sure teachers have not only the skill, but also the experience. Many teachers have the degree, but a good amount of them don't even know how to control the children in the class especially in schools located in rougher areas. Also, some instructors are clearly just standing in front of classes to get paid. These instructors are not truly engaged with the students which is when the real learning takes place. We need to make sure we have instructors who want to teach us and truly want us to leave their classes and institutions as more intelligent well skilled individuals.

Heidi Looker said...

In order for schools to be "good enough" the focus should be on programs that help students achieve. This requires well rounded teachers and advanced forms of communication. Students who thrive in one area such as math and science should be encouraged to branch out into more creative courses such at art and vice versa. This provides students with experiences with all sorts of classes and tasks.

Tashawna Nash said...

One thing to consider if we want our local learning environments to be "good enough" is making sure that there is a nice and quiet setting where students can go and study. Also I think that we should make sure that the bar is set high instead of low and that the teaching standard is made to be challenging for the students now that we are in college instead of a class where we can simply pass the class by showing up.
~Tashawna N.

Olivia Slater said...

In order to ensure that our learning environments are "good enough", we must first look at the size of the institution. The ability for students to work with their professors, be held accountable for attending class, and ensuring that they get any help they need is a key part in a good learning environment. For this to be attained, the learning environment should be a decent size, with a good faculty to student ratio.
Olivia Slater

Unknown said...

I believe that a "good enough" environment includes teachers and professors ready and willing to help their students regardless of class size. If you are eager for all your students to pass your class, the class number will not matter. I also feel like resources such as tutoring like the SOAR office and Student Success Center gives every student no matter their nationality equal opportunity to succeed.

Anonymous said...

We can ensure that our local learning environments are "good enough" by ensuring that there is available resources that the student has access to when ever necessary. Also I think that we should consider what we put on campus as well because if you have a club on campus versus having a local library close by, the student is being conditioned to want to go out and party instead of focusing on their school work. By providing the student with many resources to access, the school is motivating thee student to achieve success while at the same time making the school look "good enough" to attend by doing so.
****Brittany P

Brittany P. said...

I believe that in order to ensure that the school is "good enough", the school should provide the students with many resources. By doing this, the school is allowing the student the choice to succeed and conveying to others that the school supports its students and their education.
****Brittany P

Unknown said...

In order to make sure learning environments are "good enough" we need to focus on the location of the learning environment, the people that teach in it and the credentials of those teachers. If school is not in a reasonable area where education is valued, majority of the students will eventually stop attending school.
However, location is not the only thing that matters. The people in the environment have to want to be there and there desire to be there will motivate the students and if they have great credentials they will value the challenge. A great example of this is the story of the freedom writers.
Tiera W.

Unknown said...

In order to ensure that our learning environments are "good enough" we must first ensure that the classes are smaller so students are able to focus more and are able potentially build a relationship with the teacher.

Unknown said...

To make schools "good enough" teachers should be able to teach in many different methods, because not all students learn the same way. Also, the student to teacher ratio should be relatively small. That way teachers are able to engage with students one on one more. There should also be many different resources available to enhance learning for the students.

Unknown said...

In order to ensure our learning environments are good enough,we need to keep in mind that everyone does not learn the same. This being said, our instructors should use different techniques to help the students understand what is being taught in the most successful way.

Taylor Morgan said...

In order to ensure that our learning environments are "good enough" we must consider each individuals learning style. People are constantly told to be themselves and to think creatively, but this cannot be accomplished if individuals are not given the chance to learn in there own way. Nobody is exactly the same, so it wouldn't make since to throw everyone in the same category.

Taylor Morgan said...

In order to ensure that our learning environments are "good enough" we must consider each individuals learning style. People are constantly told to be themselves and to think creatively, but this cannot be accomplished if individuals are not given the chance to learn in there own way. Nobody is the same as someone else, so it wouldn't make since to throw everyone in the same category.

Jacquesia H. said...

A "good enough" learning environment is one free of distractions. It should help that individual focus on what they need to do and also have resources to help them better understand what they are learning.

Kelsey Walker said...

Kelsey Walker
I do believe some people are natural born geniuses which is great but I can also think that geniuses can be made or even found from within in some cases. There has to be some threshold where it doesn't matter if you have the same 200 IQ score or not. One person may be more creative like that creativity test is talking about. I think that may be better than just being immensely book smart. I thought that little test they did with the brick and blanket was really smart. Some people could go on all day while some people's minds just can't seem to adventure that far outside of the box.